Navigation
Alzheimer’s disease and diet: a systematic review
This 2017 study examines the relationship between diet and Alzheimer’s disease (AD), with the aim of summarising all the evidence considering diet as a protective or risk factor for AD, of identifying methodological challenges and limitations, and of providing future research directions. Sixty four studies were included, all of which were published between 1997 and 2015, accumulating a total of 132,491 participants, and generating 141 dietary patterns or “models”. Twelve of the studies examined the relationship between the Mediterranean diet (MeDi) and AD development, with 10 reporting a significant association. However, the findings were inconsistent in terms of sample size, AD diagnosis, and food measures. Yusufov et al. (2017) mention 81.3% of the studies included samples with mean baseline ages that were at risk of AD based on age (>65 years), ranging from 52 to 85.4 years. Since AD has a long prodromal phase prior to the manifestation of symptoms and decline, the mean ages of these sample populations were considered limitations in determining the influence of diet on AD. Despite these imperfections, the finding that 50 of the 64 reviewed studies revealed an association between diet and AD incidence offers promising implications for diet as a modifiable risk factor for AD. [NPIDs: aging, elderly, cognitive decline, neurodegenerative disorders, Alzheimer’s disease, AD, Alzheimer’s, Mediterranean Diet, Med Diet, diet quality]
Year: 2017
