Researchers observed 1.5 million people who stuck with the diet that was created for them and was similar to the Mediterranean diet. The diet included high amounts of grains, vegetables, olive oil, fruit, and fish. It had a low amount of alcohol, dairy products, and meat. 9% of the people who participated were less likely to die of heart diseawse.

Those who ate a Mediterranean diet were also 6 percent less likely to develop all types of cancers or malignancies and 13 percent less likely to suffer Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s disease. The review was published in the British Medical Journal.

Previous studies show that olive oil helps to provide high amounts of healthy oil that contain a small amount of bad fats. This coupled with fish and the oil from them help to fight against many different types of heart problems.

Antioxidants vitamin E and C in fruits and vegetables were also believed to reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s disease. Previous studies suggested that eating a Mediterranean diet may lower the risk of death from cancer by up to 24 percent. The diet has been associated with reduced risk of cancers including those in the breast, bowel, stomach and mouth.

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The cause of Alzheimer’s is unknown, though it affects over 5 million Americans, both male and female mostly over the age of 65, though in some cases onset is as early as 40 or 50. It is currently the seventh-leading cause of death in the United States. It’s the most common form of dementia and currently has no cure. What little we do know about the disease was just learned in the past 15 years. There is an accelerating worldwide effort under way to find better forms of treatment, to delay its onset or even prevent it from developing.

Earlier research suggest it’s caused by a reduced biosynthesis of acetylcholine, a neurotransmitter in both the peripheral and central nervous system. Another hypotheses centers on the effects of the misfolded and aggregated proteins, amyloid beta and tau. The latest research leads to Amyloid beta as being the common initiating factor for Alzheimer’s disease. The few available medications cannot stop or even slow the disease’s progression and offer only relatively small symptomatic benefits, primarily with memory retention.

Risk factors for Alzheimer’s are known, however, and suggest that adults with damaged blood vessels or atrophy in their temporal lobe can increase the chances of developing the disease. Since blood vessel damage is often caused by high blood pressure, high cholesterol or diabetes it is safe to say that prevention of these conditions can lower risk of developing Alzheimer’s. Common risk reducers include intellectual stimulation, regular exercise, a healthy diet and social interaction.

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