- Alzheimer's disease directly affects 7.4 million people in the U.S.
- The old belief that there's nothing to be done isn't true; lifestyle changes can make a difference.
- Most people want to know if they will have Alzheimer's long before symptoms appear.
Researchers are slowly tossing much of what we’ve been told for many years about Alzheimer’s disease out the window — and replacing what has been a very dreary tale with new findings and reasons to hope the disease can be tamed or even prevented.
What’s known about the brain and cognitive decline has been changing for years, with former thinking often proven to be a myth. If you still think the brain is set and change only goes one direction — downhill — you haven’t been keeping up.
Same with the idea that you can’t do anything about your risk for Alzheimer’s disease. It turns out that while it’s true there’s no medicine that cures the disease, a healthy lifestyle is now believed to be powerful medicine to slow Alzheimer’s down and maybe head it off.
That news is one of many key findings regarding Alzheimer’s, which more than 7.4 million adults in the U.S. live with, including 38,300 in Utah and 55 million worldwide, according to the Alzheimer’s Association.
Here are seven things to know about Alzheimer’s and neurocognitive decline.
Change your lifestyle, change your risk?
Perhaps the biggest finding is that while no one was cured of Alzheimer’s disease in the nearly 120 years since it was first diagnosed by Dr. Alois Alzheimer, there’s strong evidence suggesting lifestyle and medical approaches can reduce the risk and perhaps even stop someone from developing the disease.
The Alzheimer’s Association’s two-year U.S. POINTER clinical trial found that those at risk of cognitive decline and dementia who “follow a rigorous lifestyle program, including diet and exercise components as well as cognitive challenges,” appeared to gain resilience against cognitive decline, according to a news bulletin from the group.
Stacie Kulp, executive director of the Alzheimer’s Association of Utah, said in a written statement that “researchers believe about 40% of all cases can be prevented or delayed. There are a number of steps that we can take to protect our cognitive health and, ideally, prevent this tragic disease from getting a foothold.”
Both structured and self-guided interventions in the study helped cognitive function over two years for those at risk of cognitive decline. Benefits were greater for those in the structured group, who had coaching and peer support focused on exercise, nutrition, cognitive training and health monitoring.
The guidelines for how the changes might be structured include 30-35 minutes of moderate-to-intense aerobic exercise four times a week, with flexibility and strength training twice a week. A computer-based brain training program is recommended three times a week in half-hour sessions, plus other intellectually challenging and social activities. As for diet, the key is the MIND diet — it stands for “Mediterranean-DASH Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay” — with focus on dark leafy greens, berries, nuts, whole grains, olive oil and fish. Keeping track of blood pressure, weight and lab results is also very important.
The study found improved cognition regardless of sex, ethnicity, heart health status or genetic risk. Even those in the high-risk APOE4 carrier group benefit — and it seems they actually benefit the most.
The association plans to offer a personal brain health web-based tool and a virtual training program for health care providers, among other related initiatives.
People want to know their status early
Years ago, with no good treatment and no cure, there didn’t seem to be much point in learning early whether you were headed toward Alzheimer’s disease.
A nationwide survey by the Alzheimer’s Association in 2025 found close to 4 in 5 Americans 45 and older want to know if they have Alzheimer’s before symptoms appear. And 91% said they would take a simple test — like a blood biomarker test — if they could.
The survey also found that nearly 6 in 10 respondents said they would accept a “moderate or high level of risk” from medication if it could slow the disease.
Elizabeth Edgerly, senior director of Community Programs and Services for the association, said that shows the importance of making diagnostic testing widely available.
Blood test helps with diagnosis
An expensive PET scan or spinal tap are no longer the only ways to find evidence of Alzheimer’s disease. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved two different blood tests to help detect the disease, though they’re not intended to be the only diagnostic tool.
The FDA approved the Lumipulse G pTau217/ß-Amyloid 1-42 Plasma Ratio test, for use to find amyloid plaques in those 50 and older who have symptoms of cognitive decline. The association offers clinical guidelines to help specialists decide if the test is appropriate.
More recently, FDA cleared the Elecsys pTau181 plasma test for use in primary care. “Approved for adults 55 and older with cognitive symptoms, the test helps rule out Alzheimer’s-related brain changes and may reduce the need for PET scans or spinal taps in certain clinical settings.”
The association emphasizes that diagnosis remains a multi-step process and urges providers to use blood biomarker tests “alongside established ‘gold standard’ tests, clinical judgment and evolving guidelines,” per an Alzheimer’s Association statement.
Heart-health drug combo may help brain
Using a combination of drugs commonly prescribed to treat blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes may be just what the doctor ordered to help the brain by slowing cognitive decline. Blood pressure and cholesterol medications were most helpful in combination if only two medications were used.
The study, conducted by researchers at the University of Southern California and the University of Washington, Seattle, found that statins and antihypertensives could lower the risk of Alzheimer’s by 21%.
According to a USC news release, while tau tangles and amyloid plaques are considered the main drivers of the disease, “researchers have discovered that there are a variety of underlying factors that contribute to the risk of developing the disease. Those include inflammation, genetics and cardiovascular factors like high blood pressure, obesity and overall heart health.”
The cholesterol drugs tested were pravastatin and rosuvastatin, and when combined with high blood pressure medication showed the greatest impact.
Meanwhile, hope had been placed on the super-popular semaglutide GLP-1 drugs Ozempic and Wegovy. That hope has not proved true to date.
In early clinical trials, it’s worth noting that a study by Novo Nordisk of the two drugs did not alter cognitive decline.
Vaccines may reduce risk of Alzheimer’s
Research from the University of Texas’ McGovern Medical School found that an annual flu vaccine was linked to a 40% decrease in risk of developing Alzheimer’s over the next four years. Just one annual shot was associated with 17% lower risk.
Stanford University research presented similar good news regarding the shingles vaccine. An examination of Welsh health records found risk of Alzheimer’s or other dementia later in life fell by 20-39% among those who got the Zostavax/Shingrix shingles vaccine. The findings could mean that viruses like varicella zoster, responsible for shingles, affect brain health.
Mouse studies offer hope for future prevention, cure
Mice are clearly not humans, but they have a lot in common genetically with people. And studies in mice often precede big medical breakthroughs, as Deseret News has reported.
While the journey from a mouse study to a treatment or cure for people is a long one, two recent rodent studies hint at potential ways to reverse the damage of Alzheimer’s or prevent it from happening.
Northwestern University research suggests the damage starts earlier than previously believed and is linked to “a hidden toxic protein in the brain,” as a press release on Science Daily noted.
“Scientists found that an experimental drug, NU-9, blocks this early damage in mice and reduces inflammation linked to disease progression. The treatment was given before symptoms appeared, targeting the disease at its earliest stage. Researchers say this approach could reshape how Alzheimer’s is prevented and treated,” per the news release.
Another study by University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center indicates “severe drops in the brain’s energy supply help drive Alzheimer’s disease — and restoring that balance can reverse damage, even in advanced cases. In mouse models, treatment repaired brain pathology, restored cognitive function, and normalized Alzheimer’s biomarkers. The results offer fresh hope that recovery may be possible," per another Science Daily article.
If every step in between goes perfectly and the findings hold up, these studies offer hope for the future. But they are very early findings and there’s a lot to test and prove or disprove.
Memory problems could also be linked to old lead pollution
Some of today’s cognitive issues might be traced back to “historic pollution levels from the era of leaded gasoline” a half century ago, according to a news release for a study presented this summer at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference in Toronto.
Researchers from Florida State University have reported that half the older U.S. population was exposed to high lead levels in childhood, per their study.
The study found older adults who grew up in areas with moderate to very high historical atmospheric lead levels were 20% more likely to report memory problems 50 years later, compared to those who grew up in areas with less lead pollution.
A 2025 study reported at the conference found evidence that living within three miles of a lead-polluting site can pose risk for memory, as well.