Risk Factors for Alzheimer Disease

by Cynthia M. Johnson, MA

A risk factor raises your chances of getting a health problem. You can get Alzheimer disease with or without the ones listed here. But the more you have, the greater your chances are of getting it.

AD is more common in people over 65 years of age. It is also more common in people who have a family history of the disease.

Medical Conditions

People who have these health problems may be at greater risk:

Diabetes
High cholesterol and high blood pressure
Overweight or obese
Metabolic syndrome
Stroke
Head injury
Depression

Education

People who have higher education levels are less likely to get the disease. This may be because they are more likely to be active and involved in their social groups.

Social Factors

People with active social lives may be less likely to get the disease than those who are not.

References:

Alzheimer dementia. EBSCO DynaMed website. Available at: https://www.dynamed.com/condition/alzheimer-dementia. Updated August 9, 2019. Accessed October 8, 2019.

Alzheimer's disease medications fact sheet. National Institute on Aging website. Available at: https://www.nia.nih.gov/alzheimers/publication/alzheimers-disease-medications-fact-sheet. Updated April 2, 2018. Accessed October 8, 2019.

Atri A. The Alzheimer's Disease Clinical Spectrum: Diagnosis and Management. Med Clin North Am. 2019 Mar;103(2):263-293.

Mendez MF. What is the relationship of traumatic brain injury to dementia? J Alzheimer’s Dis. 2017;57(3):667-81.

Risk factors. Alzheimer’s Association website. Available at:
...(Click grey area to select URL)
Accessed October 2, 2017.

What is Alzheimer's? Alzheimer’s Association website. Available at:
...(Click grey area to select URL)
Accessed October 8, 2019.

10/17/2016 DynaMed Plus Systematic Literature Surveillance. Available at: http://www.dynamed.com/topics/dmp~AN~T114193/Alzheimer-dementia : Arvanitakis Z, Capuano AW, et al. Relation of cerebral vessel disease to Alzheimer's disease dementia and cognitive function in elderly people: a cross-sectional study. Lancet Neurol. 2016 Aug;15(9):934-943.

Last reviewed September 2019 by EBSCO Medical Review Board Rimas Lukas, MD
Last Updated: 10/9/2019

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