WHILE THERE IS NO CURE FOR ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE, there are some lifestyle moves you can make that may lower your risk of developing the disease. Today we explore how you may drop your dementia risk.
We begin with this troubling statistic: Nearly six million individuals in the United States have Alzheimer’s dementia. That’s according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The risk of Alzheimer’s disease rises with age; the number of people with the condition doubles every year after 65 years old.
I am especially troubled by this statistic provided by the study authors: The number of individuals living with Alzheimer’s disease (and other forms of dementia) is projected to triple worldwide over the next few decades: The incidence will rise from an estimated 57 million in 2019 to 152 million by 2050.
Health lifestyle and dementia — a new study
More than one in nine people aged 65 years and older have dementia. That’s the bad news.
A new study published in the British Medical Journal points to actions you and I can take that may promote longevity and increase the number of years we live free of Alzheimer’s dementia.
Researchers analyzed questionnaires from nearly 2500 men and women aged 65 years and older. All participated in the Chicago Health and Aging Project (CHAP), a project assessing Alzheimer’s dementia risk factors in the general population.
The scientists created a healthy lifestyle score based on these five lifestyle factors:
- Physical activity. Researchers people who were healthy or at low risk as those who spent at least 150 minutes weekly doing moderate or vigorous activity. Get into your garden, take a walk, swim, or do some yard work, and you may be lowering your dementia risk.
- Diet. The researchers graded the diet using the Mediterranean-DASH Diet Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay (MIND) diet score, which is strongly associated with slower cognitive decline and a lower chance of developing dementia.
- Cognitive activities. Researchers measures late-life cognitive activity by looking at how often participants engaged in seven mentally stimulating activities during the past year. These activities included visiting museums, reading, and playing mentally challenging games (such as crosswords or puzzles).
- Smoking
- Alcohol consumption
Next, to estimate life expectancy and years lived with or without Alzheimer’s dementia, researchers created a demographic tool combining people’s experiences in varying states of health with total life expectancy and how long they could expect to live without Alzheimer’s disease. They evaluated the study subjects for AD every three years.
Health lifestyle and dementia — study results
Let’s turn to the results of this provocative research investigation.
Those with four or five healthy factors had a life expectancy at age 65 of nearly 24 years, with only six to 10 percent spent living with Alzheimer’s dementia.
In contrast, those with no (or one) health factor had a significantly shorter lifespan and more time spent living with Alzheimer’s dementia.
The takeaway message is that living a long life (facilitated by pursuing a healthy lifestyle) is not accompanied by more years living with Alzheimer’s dementia.
While we may not prevent Alzheimer’s dementia, we may be able to slow cognitive decline and reduce our risk of suffering from the disease. That, to me, is heartening.
Thank you for joining me.
The information I provided in this blog is for educational purposes only and does not substitute for professional medical advice. Please consult a medical professional or healthcare provider if you seek medical advice, diagnoses, or treatment. I am not liable for risks or issues associated with using or acting upon the information in this blog.
