IN the U.S., according to studies done in that country, Hispanics are the principal victims of Alzheimer’s disease, a progressive and incurable neurological disorder, and it is feared that in the first years of this century it will claim the lives of more than one million individuals of this minority.

Alzheimer’s disease attacks cerebral or neural cells, generally in persons over 65.

Characteristics of this condition are loss of memory, problems with thought and speech processes, as well as behavioral difficulties, dementia, and finally death.

Neurophysiologist Stephanie Johnson of the Alzheimer Research Center of Duke University recently stated that she fears that there could be a 600% increase in the incidence of this disease among Hispanics in the coming decades.

"If we don’t find an effective cure soon, 1.3 million Hispanics will suffer from Alzheimer’s disease by 2050," she warned. Johnson added that the symptoms of the disease appear, on average, seven years earlier in Hispanics than in other population sectors.

Education and availability of public health services are fundamental to the prevention and treatment of the chronic disease that presents a special threat to Hispanics, she noted.

According to the specialist, one of the largest problems for Hispanics is the cultural barrier that they confront upon arriving in the United States and which a large number never overcome. "Many Hispanics arriving in the country do not speak English. This is an obstacle that blocks their access to and utilization of public health services," she indicated.

In response to this situation, the Alzheimer Association has begun a plan to promote the education and awareness of the Hispanic population with respect to the dangers of the disease.

Participating in this program, are the MetLife Foundation, which donated $250,000, and La Raza National Council (NCLR), one of the principal Hispanic organizations in the United States.

In parallel the Karolinka Institute advises that the practice of moderate physical exercise during adulthood appears to lower the risk of developing Alzheimer-type dementia in old age.

The Institute’s research, published by the journal The Lancet Neurology, is one of the first long term experiments on the relationship between exercise and the risk of Alzheimer-type dementia. Other recent studies have uncovered that physical activity is associated with better cognitive functions and protection against the deterioration of cognitive capacities and memory.

Previous epidemiological and experimental data suggest that physical exercise helps prevent cognitive deterioration, but the assertion was inconclusive because the duration of these studies were generally very brief, between three and six years in most cases. The Karolinka Institute seems to have overcome this obstacle. In order to obtain a strong sample that would permit a long-term investigation, the study used data on middle-aged individuals who had participated in other previous experiments. Information was compiled regarding these individual’s free-time physical activity for the years 1972, 1977, 1982 and 1987. Researchers reexamined these individuals in 1998. They observed that those who had practiced some type of physical activity a minimum of twice per week were 60% less likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease compared to those who led a sedentary life. In general, the less active individuals were 50% more likely to develop some kind of dementia.