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A healthy lifestyle, especially a healthy diet, is associated with slower memory decline, according to a decade-long study of older Chinese adults. BMJMore.
A healthy lifestyle was found to delay memory loss, even among carriers of the apolipoprotein E (APOE) gene, which is known to be the strongest risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias. rice field.
Memory continues to decline with age, but there is insufficient evidence from existing studies to assess the impact of a healthy lifestyle on subsequent memory. Also, memory loss can have many causes, so you may need to combine healthy behaviors for optimal benefit.
To investigate this further, the researchers analyzed data from 29,000 cognitively normal adults aged 60 and over (mean age 72 years, 49% female) who participated in the Chinese Cognition and Aging Study. bottom.
At the start of the study in 2009, memory function was measured using the Auditory Verbal Learning Test (AVLT), and participants were tested for the APOE gene (20% were found to be carriers). A follow-up evaluation was then performed over his 10-year period in 2012, 2014, 2016, and 2019.
Next, the six components are healthy eating, regular exercise, positive social contact (e.g., interacting with friends and family), cognitive activity (e.g., writing, reading, mahjong), smoking cessation, and abstaining from alcohol. A combined healthy lifestyle score was calculated. .
Based on scores ranging from 0 to 6, participants rated a favorable (4 to 6 health factors), average (2 to 3 health factors), or unfavorable (0 to 1 health factors) lifestyle. Categorized into groups, APOE carrier and non-carrier groups.
After considering a variety of other health, economic and social factors, the researchers found that individual healthy behavior was associated with slower memory decline than the 10-year average. .
A healthy diet was most effective in slowing memory decline, followed by cognitive activity and physical activity.
Based on AVLT standardized scores (z-scores), memory decline in the good lifestyle group was 0.28 points slower over 10 years than in the poor lifestyle group, and memory decline was 0.16 points slower in the average lifestyle group. rice field.
Participants with the APOE gene and an average lifestyle experienced slower memory decline than those with an unfavorable lifestyle (0.027 and 0.014 points per year, respectively). .
Furthermore, people with favorable or average lifestyles were nearly 90% and nearly 30% less likely to develop dementia or mild cognitive impairment compared with those with unfavorable lifestyles, and even the APOE group I got similar results.
As this was an observational study, it was not possible to determine the cause and the investigators were concerned with possible measurement errors due to self-reported lifestyle factors or because some participants did not return for follow-up. We acknowledge some limitations, such as the possibility of selection bias. Rating up.
However, this was a large study with a long follow-up period that allowed us to assess individual lifestyle factors on memory function over time. , suggesting that they are robust.
Thus, the researchers concluded, their results suggest that even in people genetically prone to memory loss, adherence to a healthy lifestyle combined with positive behaviors can reduce the rate of memory loss. It provides strong evidence that it is associated with slowness.
Although they were not included in the study, they acknowledged that memory impairment can also affect young people and focused on the impact of a healthy lifestyle on lifelong memory decline. “These results may provide important information for public health initiatives to protect older adults from memory decline,” they conclude.
“Given the lack of effective treatments for Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias, prevention is key,” the researchers said in a linked editorial.
However, these results do determine which of the six health behaviors included in the score (or specific combinations) are the best goals for dementia prevention, or when during the life course to focus prevention efforts. Further insights are also needed to determine whether the differences in memory decline observed in this study are clinically meaningful, they added.
They suggest that similar approaches that have led to significant reductions in cardiovascular disease should be taken along with prevention of dementia.”
For more information:
Association between healthy lifestyles and memory decline in older adults: a 10-year, population-based, prospective cohort study. BMJMore (2023). DOI: 10.1136/bmj-2022-072691
Courtesy of the British Medical Journal
Quote: Association between slow memory decline and healthy lifestyles in the elderly (January 25, 2023)
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