National Alzheimer’s Plan Updated with New Focus on Healthy Aging

By Jonathan Springston, Editor, Relias Media

Federal agencies this week announced a new focus on healthy aging as part of an update to the annual National Plan to Address Alzheimer’s Disease.

In the new sixth goal, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) wants to “accelerate action to promote healthy aging and reduce risk factors for Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias.” This means targeting and alleviating risk factors that have been associated with Alzheimer’s and other dementias, such as diabetes, depression, hypertension, high blood pressure, and physical inactivity.

"Scientists have identified action steps we can take to maintain our health and function as we get older, from improving our diet and levels of physical activity to getting health screenings and managing risk factors for disease,” Richard Hodes, MD, director of the National Institute on Aging, said in a statement. “These approaches may influence multiple health concerns, including risk for Alzheimer's and related dementias, and we remain committed to learning more through research discovery."

"A number of age-related processes come together to cause cognitive impairment and dementia,” Walter Koroshetz, MD, director of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, explained in the same statement. “Evidence suggests that the wear and tear of high blood pressure on the brain's blood vessels contributes to the loss of brain function with aging. The good news is that blood pressure can be controlled, and aggressive blood pressure control substantially reduces one's risk for cognitive impairment and dementia. We are excited by the new goal to use the knowledge we already have to make a difference."

HHS estimates 6 million Americans are living with Alzheimer’s or a related dementia, a number that is expected to climb over the coming decades as the large baby boomer population ages — thus, the critical addition of a new goal to the national plan focusing on healthy aging and possible prevention.

For more on this and other related subjects, be sure to read the latest issues of Integrative Medicine Alert, Internal Medicine Alert, and Neurology Alert.