Despite a family medical history, a healthy lifestyle reduces the chance of dementia, or becoming dumb, according to a new study.
Preliminary results of the new study will be presented at the American Heart Association (AHA) conference. A family history is a serious risk factor for dementia. The disease of a first-degree relative – parent, sibling – increases the chance of dementia by almost 75 percent compared to those who do not have a family history of the disease.
Other common risk factors for dementia include age, gender, education, high blood pressure and cholesterol, type 2 diabetes, and depression. “If dementia runs in a family, both genetic and non-genetic factors play a role. This means that it may be possible to reduce risk by targeting non-genetic factors,” said Angelique Brellenthin, a professor at Iowa State University.
Together with his colleagues, he analyzed the data of 302,239 women and men who were 50-73 years old and underwent medical examinations between 2006 and 2010 within the framework of the UK Biobank Study project, which was conducted with approximately 500,000 participants.
None of them had dementia at the beginning of the research. They filled out a questionnaire about their family history and lifestyle. Six healthy habits were examined, one point was awarded to those who ate healthily, i.e. ate more vegetables and fruits than processed meat and refined grains, exercised enough, i.e. did at least 150 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous activity per week, slept 6-9 hours a day, he consumed alcohol in moderation, he was not obese, so his body mass index was below 30.
During the eight-year follow-up, 1,698 people (0.6 percent) developed dementia. Those with a family history of the disease are about 70 percent more likely to develop dementia.
Those who followed all six guidelines for a healthy lifestyle faced almost half the risk as those who followed two or fewer. Three types of healthy habits were associated with a 30 percent reduction in the risk of dementia compared to those who did not followed two or fewer habits even after the researchers controlled for family history and common risk factors, including age, gender, education, high blood pressure and cholesterol, diabetes, and depression.
Those with a family history of dementia and following at least three healthy habits they experienced a 25-35 percent reduction in risk compared to those who also had a family history but followed only two or fewer healthy principles.
Limitations of the study include that no causal relationship was established between healthy habits and the prevention of dementia, only a correlation was discovered. They only knew about genetic factors based on questionnaires.
Source: www.patikamagazin.hu
