At the recent Alzheimer’s Association 2009 International Conference on Alzheimer’s Disease, an eye opening study demonstrated that spouses who care for a mate suffering from dementia were more likely to develop the same condition, with husband caregivers at a much greater risk than wife caregivers.

Wives who cared for husbands with dementia were nearly four times more likely to develop dementia than wives of men who didn’t have dementia, while husband caregivers in the same circumstances were almost 12 times more likely to develop the disease.

So what exactly is it that causes the risk of developing Alzheimer’s to skyrocket? You can’t catch it, can you? Researchers think the root cause is the stress that comes along with these caregiving situations.

Ralph Nixon, MD, PhD, a psychiatrist and Alzheimer’s disease expert at NYU and vice chairman of the Medical & Scientific Advisory Council at the Alzheimer’s Association feels that “the amount of stress involved in caring for a spouse with dementia is tremendous,and stress is a known risk factor for dementia.”

Healthy diet and exercise are key factors of good brain health, and both of these areas tend to falter when one is stressed out. It is critical that caregivers look after themselves properly, making sure to rest, to visit a doctor regularly and to maintain social ties.

Since men tend to rely on their wives to serve as the impetus for seeing the doctor and keeping up with friends and family, they are more apt than women caregivers to let these things slide when their spouse is cognitively impaired – thereby increasing their risk of high cholesterol, blood pressure and other conditions that can lead to dementia.

By Nancy Smith

Today’s medical announcement would be astounding if it wasn’t almost intuitive; the results clearly demonstrate that lifestyle behaviors do contribute to stroke risk independently of the intermediate risk factors.

We are all aware that the following four behaviors are beneficial to one’s health. Physical activity, moderate alcohol consumption, no smoking, and the daily consumption of five or more servings of fruits and vegetables a day can only have a positive impact. The strength of that impact was recently bolstered by a defining EPIC (European Prospective Investigation of Cancer) study conducted in England.

20,040 men and women ages 40 to 79 had a physical exam and completed a detailed health and lifestyle questionnaire upon enrolling in the study. This data determined which participants smoked, drank, were physically active, and whether they ate their fruits and vegetables. The risk of stroke for those who did not practice any of the above mentioned behaviors increased twofold compared with individuals who adopted all four.

“These results provide further incentive and support for the notion that small differences in lifestyle can have a substantial potential impact on risk,” the authors concluded.

By Lydia Yolen

There’s finally good news in the health industry – heart disease and stroke death rates are down down down.

Death rates from coronary heart disease are down 30.7% since 1999, and stroke mortality has dropped 29.2%.

The American Heart Association set a goal to reduce coronary heart disease and stroke death by 25% by 2010, and it seems that they’ve succeeded. But they’re not resting on their laurels. Though death rates themselves are down, the risk factors that lead to death are perilously high, risking a reverse of the downward trend with time.

Age, being male, and genes are not risk factors that anyone can change, but you can try to reduce your risk factors by eliminating the following:

• Smoking
• High cholesterol
• High blood pressure
• Physical inactivity
• Obesity
• Diabetes
• Stress
• Birth control pills
• Excessive intake of alcohol