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A National Institute of Health (NIH) study that involved 3000 participants showed that risks of Alzheimer’s substantially decrease when healthy lifestyle behaviors are combined.
Funded by the National Institute on Aging (NIA) which is a part of the NIH, the research defined five healthy behavior factors—physical activity, not smoking, light-to-moderate alcohol consumption, a high-quality diet, and cognitive activities.
NIH said in a statement that those who followed four of these five specified healthy behaviors were observed to have 60 percent lower risks of Alzheimer’s.
“This observational study provides more evidence on how a combination of modifiable behaviors may mitigate Alzheimer’s disease risk,” said NIA Director Richard J. Hodes, in the statement.
Klodian Dhana, assistant professor at Rush University Medical Center said that participants with no or one healthy lifestyle trait were at higher risk. Those with two or three healthy behaviors had a 37 percent lower risk.
“This population-based study helps paint the picture of how multiple factors are likely playing parts in Alzheimer’s disease risk,” said Dallas Anderson, program director in the Division of Neuroscience at NIA.
(Alzheimer’s disease/Shutterstock)Five Healthy Behaviors
The researchers said for healthy aging it is important to do 150 minutes of moderate-to vigorous-intensity physical activity every week.
Regarding quitting smoking, the study said even in those above 60 years who have been smoking for decades, quitting can help to improve well being, and limiting alcohol improves cognitive health.
NIH defined a high-quality diet as a “Mediterranean-DASH Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay (MIND) diet, which combines the Mediterranean diet and Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet.”
It said the MIND diet is based on plant-based foods linked to dementia prevention.
The fifth healthy behavior for reducing Alzheimer’s risk is keeping the mind active by engaging in various cognitive activities.
“The findings strengthen the association between healthy behaviors and lower risk, and add to the basis for controlled clinical trials to directly test the ability of interventions to slow or prevent the development of Alzheimer’s disease,” said Hodes.
The researchers reviewed data from two NIA-funded studies. One was the Chicago Health and Aging Project (CHAP) that had 1,845 and the other was the Memory and Aging Project (MAP) that had 920 participants.
The analysis was done from those participants who had data for diet, lifestyle factors, genetics, and clinical assessments for Alzheimer’s disease.
The NIH is funding 230 active clinical trials related to Alzheimer’s conditions and of these more than 100 are non-drug mediations like exercise, diet, cognitive training, sleep, or combination therapies.
Focus News: Combination of Lifestyle Traits Can Reduce Alzheimer: NIH Study
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