Does one of your parents have dementia? Than your chance of developing the same disease is increased by 70%! However, according to a preliminary study, healthy lifestyle can significantly lower dementia risk among people with a family history of dementia.
The study analyzed lifestyle information of 302.239 men and women, ages 50-73 years during 8 year period of time. Lifestyle was characterized by 6 aspects:
- eating a healthy diet with more fruits and vegetables, and less processed meat and refined grains;
- meeting physical activity guidelines of 150 or more minutes a week of moderate-to- vigorous physical activity;
- sleeping 6 to 9 hours each day;
- drinking alcohol in moderation;
- not smoking; and
- not having obesity, meaning a BMI (body mass index) of <30 kg/m.
In general, the results showed that the more healthy aspects the participants followed, the less likely they had a chance to develop dementia. To be more concrete, the participants with familial dementia who followed at least 3 healthy lifestyle aspects, had a 25% – 35% reduced risk of dementia compared to those with familial dementia who followed no more than 2 healthy lifestyle aspects.
The researchers highlighted that the study didn’t prove that lifestyle can cause or prevent dementia. It only showed a relation between risk of developing dementia and healthy lifestyle. However, the findings sound very good. Following very simple healthy aspects of lifestyle can help prevent dementia, delay cognitive decline, and protect your brain health!
Curious? HERE is the source
