Healthy Lifestyles That Can Help Lower Dementia Risk, What Are?

Illustration of a healthy lifestyle reducing risk factors for dementia (iStockphoto)

YOGYAKARTA – Eating healthy with a regular diet has benefits for overall health. Recently, there has been a lot of research linking a healthy lifestyle with health, including the risk of dementia.

Launching the American Heart Association, Monday, July 25, one of the risk factors for someone experiencing dementia is family history. Dementia is a condition characterized by cognitive decline. Based on the findings of the study, presented last year, showing that healthy lifestyle behaviors can lower the risk of dementia, including those who are at higher risk due to a family history.

Familial dementia, a stronger risk factor for dementia. Having a parent or sibling with the disease can increase a person's risk of developing dementia by almost 75 percent compared to someone who has no first-degree relative with the condition. Besides also being influenced by age, gender, race, education, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, type 2 diabetes, and depression.

Illustration of a healthy lifestyle reducing risk factors for dementia (iStockphoto)

“When dementia runs in families, both genetic and non-genetic factors, such as diet, physical activity, and smoking status, affect an individual's overall risk. This means there may be opportunities to reduce risk by addressing these non-genetic factors," said study author Angelique Brellenthin, Ph.D., assistant professor of kinesiology at State University, Ames, Iowa.

Brellenthin and colleagues analyzed health information on 302,239 men and women ages 50-73 who had completed a basic physical examination between 2006-2010. The physical examination is part of the UK Biobank Study, which is the largest study of more than 500,000 Britons.

Adults free of dementia filled out a questionnaire at the start of the study about family history and lifestyle. Participants were given one point for each of the six healthy lifestyle behaviors, including:

Eat a healthy diet with more fruits and vegetables, and less processed meat and refined grains. Meet the guidelines for 150 minutes or more of physical activity a week. Sleep 6-9 hours every day. Drink alcohol in moderation. Do not smoke. Not obese.

The researchers then found that people who followed the six healthy lifestyle behaviors above reduced their risk of dementia by almost half compared to those who followed two or fewer healthy behaviors. In general, participants following three healthy behaviors were associated with a 30 percent reduced risk of dementia compared to following two or fewer healthy behaviors even when researchers considered familial dementia and more common risk factors.