A survey by clinical psychologists in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences shows that Americans know little about risk factors for Alzheimer’s disease or how to protect themselves from the loss of cognitive skills.

The study, led by a fourth-year Ph.D. student in clinical psychology, Colleen Jackson, shows that “dementia literacy” is low and that people do not know that Alzheimer’s and heart health risk factors are linked.

Exercising, lowering stress levels, maintaining a healthy body weight, and socializing are known protective factors for Alzheimer’s that most of those surveyed did not recognize.

“For as much as there has been an increase in scientific understanding of the disease, there continues to be a need to broadly educate the public,” says Jackson.

She and her colleagues presented their findings in July at the 2009 Alzheimer’s Association International Conference on Alzheimer’s Disease in Vienna.

In an online and paper survey of nearly 700 adults, the researchers found that American adults have limited knowledge and a poor understanding of factors that have been shown to increase the risk for Alzheimer’s, such as obesity, high blood pressure, and other heart health risk factors.

Listen to Colleen Jackson discuss her Alzheimer’s research

As more Baby Boomers reach the age when some cognitive decline may be noticed – the 60s and beyond – education about how to prevent it is critical, Jackson says.

While 94 percent of adults surveyed knew that Alzheimer’s Disease differs from normal aging, 66 percent did not know that high stress is a risk factor, and 64 percent did not associate the disease with obesity or high blood pressure.

Jackson says that dementia literacy, or knowledge about the disease, can be increased by better communication with general practitioners, through education at senior centers, and by informing adults as early as their late 20s of protective measures.

While there is no known cure for Alzheimer’s Disease, research has shown that the loss of memory and language associated with it can be delayed by lifestyle modifications that maintain brain and heart health.

Researchers on the “dementia literacy” project were Colleen Jackson; Peter Snyder of Lifespan Hospital System and Brown University Medical School; Kathryn Papp, Ph.D. student in clinical psychology at UConn; and Jennifer Bartkowiak, CLAS ’09.