According to recent research, lifestyle factors including diet, exercise and sleep may be crucial in reducing the risk of dementia.
A new study finds that inequality-related dementia risk is correlated with diet and other modifiable lifestyle factors
New research indicates that lifestyle aspects such as diet, exercise and sleep play a significant role in reducing the chance of developing dementia, even as the prevalence of Alzheimer’s disease and other types of dementia continues to rise in the United States. According to the researchers, two recent studies provide unique insights into the elements that may contribute to the disproportionate impact of dementia among non-white, low-income US populations.
“Our findings support the beneficial role of healthy lifestyles in preventing Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias among older Americans, including those with socioeconomic disadvantages and high risk of dementia,” said Danxia Yu, Ph. To see also : Lifestyle announces this season’s sale.D., assistant professor from the Division of Epidemiology at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, lead author of the study.
“We must recognize that it is a challenge for people facing systemic and structural disadvantages to maintain healthy lifestyles or make lifestyle changes. It is critical to establish public health strategies to make lifestyle modifications achievable for all, especially disadvantaged populations.”
The results of two surveys were presented online by Yu and colleagues at NUTRITION 2022 LIVE ONLINE, the main annual meeting of the American Society for Nutrition. The study was also recently published in Neurology, the official journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
The Southern Community Cohort Study, a long-term research project that began in 2001 to investigate the causes of numerous diseases and health disparities, is the source of the study’s findings. About 85,000 people were recruited from community health clinics in the southern United States. Two-thirds of participants are black, giving the study the highest representation of African Americans of any large US research cohort. The researchers tracked Alzheimer’s diagnoses among participants over age 65 using Medicare claims data.
Examining five lifestyle factors
In the first study, data was collected from 17,209 older study participants, 1,694 of whom had forms of dementia, such as Alzheimer’s, at an average follow-up of four years. This may interest you : Oliver: Making lifestyle changes is not only good for the heart, but for the brain as well. Smoking, alcohol use, leisure-time physical activity, sleep duration, and diet quality were examined individually and in combination.
Results showed that healthy choices (not smoking, leisurely exercise, low-to-moderate alcohol consumption, adequate sleep, and a high-quality diet) were individually associated with an 11-25% reduced risk of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias. . When combined, a composite score of these five lifestyle factors was associated with a 36% reduced risk in the highest versus lowest quartile. These associations were independent of age, sex, race, education, income and underlying chronic diseases of the participants.
Analyzing dietary polyphenols
For the second study, researchers extracted data from 14,500 older study participants, of whom 1,402 developed Alzheimer’s or related dementias. In this group, they analyzed the intake of four major classes of dietary polyphenols – flavonoids, phenolic acids, stilbenes and lignans – and their subclasses, using a validated food frequency questionnaire and polyphenol databases. To see also : Lifestyle presents the pending SALE notification of Time. Polyphenols are a large class of compounds commonly found in tea, red wine, chocolate, fruits and other foods and have been linked to a variety of health benefits.
In this study, researchers found a significant difference in polyphenol intake between racial groups, with white participants consuming an average of about twice the total amount of polyphenols as black participants daily. Overall, there was no significant association between total dietary polyphenol intake and the incidence of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias in either race; however, certain flavonoids were associated with a reduced risk among black participants but not among white participants. The results showed that black participants in the top quartile for tea consumption had a 28% lower incidence of Alzheimer’s than black participants in the lowest quartile for tea consumption.
While both studies are observational and did not assess the mechanisms behind the associations, the researchers said that healthy lifestyles, including healthy eating, may help protect brain health by improving glucose and lipid metabolism and reducing inflammation and inflammation. psychological stress. Yu said more research is needed to further elucidate the relationship between lifestyle factors and Alzheimer’s disease across diverse populations.
“Black Americans and people of low socioeconomic status are disproportionately affected by the disease, but they have been vastly underrepresented in epidemiological studies,” Yu said. “Identifying modifiable factors for the prevention of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias among low-income people of different races and ethnicities is a critical public health issue.”
Meeting: NUTRITION 2022 LIVE ONLINE
Reference: “Association of Healthy Lifestyles with Risk of Alzheimer Disease and Related Dementias in Low-Income Black and White Americans” by Jae Jeong Yang, Laura M Keohane, Xiongfei Pan, Ruiqi Qu, Xiao-Ou Shu, Loren P Lipworth, Kyle Braun , Mark D Steinwandel, Qi Dai, Martha Shrubsole, Wei Zheng, William J Blot and Danxia Yu, June 13, 2022, Neurology.DOI: 10.1212/WNL.0000000000200774
