What people fear most about aging is losing their mental acuity. Now, there's good news for elderly folk in good health: They will likely enjoy their golden years with memories intact.
People in the greatest danger of cognitive decline include those with diabetes, cardiovascular disease or a gene called apolipoprotein E e4 (APOE e4), which recent studies have linked to Alzheimer's disease, says Mary Haan, M.P.H., director of the Center for Aging and Health at the University of California-Davis. Elderly people with these diseases can lose their short-term memory up to eight times as fast as their healthier counterparts, she reports in the Journal of the American Medical Association. But older adults with family histories of Alzheimer's disease or a high risk of cardiovascular disease aren't doomed to senility: Haan believes that they can fend off age-related memory loss by exercising regularly and eating a healthful diet.
