Moderate physical activity, adequate rest, diet and vaccinations.

These four pillars underpin the anti-Alzheimer's strategy, which could prevent up to 40% of dementia cases.

This was discussed at the 26th National Congress of the Italian Association of Psychogeriatrics (AIP) in Padua, which also examined new therapeutic options and diagnostics.

The main theme that emerged during the conference was prevention, at the heart of AIP's Preve.di project, starting with regular walking, around 7,000 steps a day.

This can reduce beta-amyloid burden and delay the onset of cognitive symptoms by up to several years.

Sleep is also essential, as during the night, the brain activates a "cleaning" system that eliminates toxic proteins.

Sleeping less than 6-7 hours or more than 8-9 hours is associated with an increased risk of Alzheimer's disease, while the optimal duration is between 7-8 hours.

In terms of diet, it has been noted that the Mediterranean diet has been shown to be a protective factor, associated with a reduction in the risk of cognitive decline of between 11% and 30%.

Recently, some routine vaccinations – such as those against shingles, influenza and pneumococcus – have also been associated with a reduction in dementia risk of up to 40%.

If this is the preventive strategy, new therapeutic and diagnostic perspectives for Alzheimer's disease are also opening up.

"New drugs such as the monoclonal antibodies lecanemab and donanemab represent an important step forward, but they are not definitive," explains Carlo Serrati, president of the AIP.

"We are not seeing a definitive cure, as these treatments slow the progression of the disease, but they require a profound reorganization of the healthcare system, from early diagnosis to patient management over time," he added.

Precisely on the diagnostic front, there is the increasingly concrete possibility of identifying the risk of Alzheimer's disease through a simple blood test, thanks to the measurement of biomarkers such as beta-amyloid and tau.

"Early identification of patients", emphasizes Angelo Bianchetti, scientific secretary of the AIP, "means rethinking the entire care pathway, which is currently still mainly focused on hospital medicine that is no longer suitable for the management of chronic diseases in the elderly".