The Implications of Dietary Habits for Dementia

Dementia imposes a substantial medical and psychosocial burden on affected individuals and their caregivers, and it constitutes an overall socioeconomic challenge. Based on the demographic changes in many parts of the world, these issues will most likely gain even more importance in the near future. Therapeutic and especially preventive strategies are therefore essential. These approaches naturally focus on modifiable factors that may have an impact on the development of cognitive decline and dementia.1 Such factors not only include various cardiovascular and cerebrovascular risk factors, such as arterial hypertension or diabetes, but also include broader aspects, which may be addressed by the individuals themselves, such as physical activity and dietary habits. The latter has been subject of investigation in various previous studies, indicating a potential benefit of Mediterranean diet with respect to cognition.2-4 However, the results have been ambiguous, and interpretation has been hampered by heterogeneous approaches.