By Luísa Azevedo, ICBAS

PORTO - As the population ages, important social and health-related challenges arise such as the increase in prevalence of several late-onset diseases. Among these are different forms of dementia, of which Alzheimer disease is the most common worldwide. Although aging is the most relevant risk factor for dementia, there are several other factors (both genetic and environmental) that can act as modifiers of the disease risk. Whilst many of these environmental and genetic players remain to be discovered, the number of cases continues to increase. According to the expectations, the number of cases of all dementia types will experience an incremental increase in the near future. That this will constitute a socioeconomic burden is an understatement.

Under the One Health perspective, it is however possible to take some serious steps in order to lessen new cases in the future. For instance, maintaining an active life and taking regular physical exercise has been demonstrated to be of utmost importance for a healthier aging process.

Image Credits: Luísa Azevedo