Aging Research Center, Karolinska Institutet-Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden.
J Alzheimers Dis. 2010;20(3):689-97. doi: 10.3233/JAD-2010-091663.
Alzheimer's disease (AD), the most common cause of dementia, is posing serious threat to public health and health care system in both developed and developing nations due to a rapid increase in the aging population. Identification of etiological factors for AD and active implementation of interventions targeting those modifiable factors that may prevent or postpone clinical onset of the dementing disorder will provide an opportunity to cope with this challenge. Multidisciplinary research involving epidemiology, neuropathology, and neuroimaging has provided moderately strong evidence supporting the role of vascular factors and related disorders (e.g., midlife high blood pressure and obesity, diabetes, cerebral microvascular lesions, and smoking) as risk factors and the possible role of psychosocial factors (e.g., high educational achievements, mentally-stimulating activity, social engagement, and physical exercise) as protective factors in the development and clinical manifestation of the dementia syndrome, including AD. The implementation of long-term, multidomain interventions designed for the modification of multiple vascular risk factors and the maintenance of socially-integrated lifestyles and mentally-stimulating activities is expected to postpone the clinical onset of AD and dementia, and thus, substantially reduce the burden of the disease at both the individual and societal levels.
阿尔茨海默病（AD）是最常见的痴呆症病因，由于人口老龄化的迅速增加，它对发达国家和发展中国家的公共卫生和医疗体系构成了严重威胁。确定 AD 的病因，并积极实施针对那些可能预防或延缓痴呆发病的可改变因素的干预措施，将为应对这一挑战提供机会。涉及流行病学、神经病理学和神经影像学的多学科研究提供了相当有力的证据，支持血管因素和相关疾病（如中年高血压和肥胖、糖尿病、脑微血管病变和吸烟）作为危险因素的作用，以及心理社会因素（如高教育程度、思维刺激活动、社会参与和体育锻炼）作为保护因素在痴呆综合征包括 AD 的发展和临床表现中的作用。预计实施长期的、多领域的干预措施，旨在改变多种血管危险因素，并保持社会融合的生活方式和思维刺激活动，将推迟 AD 和痴呆的临床发病，从而在个人和社会层面上大大减轻疾病负担。
