Don't "weight" to reduce your risk of Alzheimer's

The Alzheimer's Society has warned that in 50 years' time, up to 2.5 million people in the UK could suffer from dementia unless there is a reduction in the levels of obesity.

Here are some facts about obesity and Alzheimer's disease.

Alzheimer's is the most common form of dementia and there is no cure for this condition.

Currently, around 700,000 people suffer from dementia (more than half have Alzheimer's disease) in the UK.

Age is the biggest risk factor for Alzheimer's.

1 in 3 older people will end their lives with a form of dementia.

Obesity is a huge risk factor for Alzheimer's disease. According to Clive Ballard, director of research at the Alzheimer's Society, "People who are obese at 60 are twice as likely to develop Alzheimer's by the time they are 75."

Research has shown that a healthy diet and regular exercise can reduce the risk of Alzheimer's.

But lifestyle factors such as obesity, smoking, high blood pressure and high cholesterol also affect a person's risk of developing Alzheimer's.

For tips and advice on what you can do to to reduce your risk, visit the Alzheimer Society's website here.

High salt diet and ulcer

Many people know that eating a high salt diet increases the risk of high blood pressure, heart attacks and strokes. It is also known that a diet that is rich in salt increases the risk of gastric cancer.

But new research has found a link between a stomach environment that is rich in salt and the bacterium that causes stomach ulcers. In such an environment, the bacterium overproduces factors that increase the risk of disease in the long term.

It would make sense for anyone who has ulcers to eat a low-salt diet, would it not? So I was amazed to read in an article that Dr Perminder Phull, a consultant in gastroenterology at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, said that diet used to be a major factor in how people with ulcers were treated, but that medical advances mean that diet is no longer an issue. Really?

I don't think taking medicines which have side effects is better than watching what one eats. The first option may be easier (for people who don't want to make any lifestyle changes) and more expensive, but is it really more advanced than eating the right diet?