Risk Factors for Alzheimer's Disease  Content provided by the
Faculty of the Harvard Medical School Excerpted from a Harvard
Special Health Report  A number of factors have been linked to
the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease. Some of these you
can't control (such as age, gender, and family history); others
you can influence (such as cholesterol levels, smoking, and
weight).  Age and gender  Your age itself poses some risk. The
risk usually rises after age 65 and continues to rise as you get
older. Still, Alzheimer's is not an inevitable consequence of
aging.  It also appears that women have a somewhat higher rate
of Alzheimer's disease than men do. Women who live to at least
age 55 have a one-in-six chance of developing Alzheimer's
disease in their remaining lifetime. For men, the risk is one in
10. However, this effect is likely due to women's greater
longevity.  Genetic factors  When a family member has
Alzheimer's, people often wonder about their own chances of
developing the disease. While heredity