Diabetes, obesity can increase your Alzheimer's risk

November is National Alzheimer's Disease month. CNN medical correspondent Judy Fortin talked about the illness with Dr. John Morris, director of the Alzheimer's Disease Research Center at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri.

Fortin: When should people start worrying about Alzheimer's?

Morris: Right around age 65 the frequency of Alzheimer's disease begins to accelerate. Most people who have Alzheimer's disease are 75 years and older. The most prevalent risk factor for Alzheimer's is old age. Of course, our society is aging so Alzheimer's disease is becoming an epidemic among our older adults.

Fortin: Are there other factors besides age that increase risk?

Morris: What has come out recently is that things that are bad for the heart also turn out to be bad for the brain, so hypertension, high cholesterol, obesity, diabetes. All of these factors in mid-life seem to put us at higher risk for developing Alzheimer's disease or dementia decades later....

•	Diabetes, obesity can increase your Alzheimer's risk Health Minute CNN.com, Monday, Nov. 6, 2006 Byline: Judy Fortin, CNN medical correspondent