A healthy lifestyle, particularly a nourishing diet, is connected with the slowing of memory impairment in older persons, according to a 10-year study of Chinese adults over 60.
The big new study, which was published in The BMJ, revealed that people with a genotype that predisposes them to Alzheimer's disease can still benefit from healthy living.
Memory loss was slowed in APOE gene carriers—the strongest known risk factor for Alzheimer's and linked dementia—by adopting healthy behaviours including abstaining from alcohol.
The Chinese research team said that while memory degrades steadily with age, there is little information from past research to determine how a healthy lifestyle may affect memory in later life.
They emphasised that a combination of healthy practises might be required for the optimum benefit given the several potential reasons of memory loss.
The ideal approach is to combine these 6 healthful behaviours.
Data from 29,000 persons over 60 with appropriate cognitive function were analysed by the researchers. Nearly half of the group were women, with an average age of 72.
An Auditory Verbal Learning Test (AVLT) was used to assess memory performance at the study's beginning in 2009, and participants were also tested for the APOE gene; 20% of them were found to be carriers. Then, follow-up evaluations were performed in 2012, 2014, 2016, and 2019.
Then, a score for a healthy lifestyle comprised of six factors—diet, regular exercise, engaging in social activities like reading and writing, not smoking, and never drinking alcohol—was determined.
Participants were divided into favourable (four to six healthy factors), average (two or three), or unfavourable (one or zero) lifestyle groups based on their score, which ranged from zero to six, and into APOE carrier and non-carrier groups.
After accounting for additional health, social, and economic characteristics, the researchers discovered that each healthy activity was linked to a slower than normal deterioration in memory over the course of ten years.
According to the study's lead author, Professor Jianping Jia, "a balanced diet had the largest influence on decreasing memory impairment, followed by cognitive activity and then physical exercise."
"Based on a standardised score of the AVLT, memory deterioration in the group with a favourable lifestyle was 0.28 points slower over 10 years than it was in the group with an unfavourable lifestyle, and memory decline in the group with an average lifestyle was 0.16 points slower.
In Middle Age, Your Health Risk Drops If You Can Stand on One Leg for Ten Seconds
Participants with the APOE gene who led healthy, typical lives also had slower rates of memory loss than those who led unhealthy lives.
Furthermore, compared to individuals who led unfavourable lifestyles, those with favourable and average lifestyles were about 90% and 30% less likely, respectively, to get dementia or mild cognitive impairment. The APOE group also experienced similar outcomes.
He claimed that because the study was observational and hence unable to pinpoint a specific cause, it was big and had a lengthy follow-up period, which allowed for the analysis of the effects of various lifestyle factors on memory performance over time.
Even among those who are genetically predisposed to memory decline, the researchers claim that their findings show "strong evidence" that maintaining a healthy lifestyle with a variety of pleasant behaviours is connected with a slower rate of memory deterioration.
0 Comments