Physical exercise, social contact, cognitive activity can help reduce the risk of dementia: Study

A decade-long study suggests that a combination of healthy lifestyle choices may help in slowing down the rate of memory decline and can help in reducing the risk of dementia. Inculcating simple activities like eating well, regular exercise, playing cards and socialising at least twice a week can help in reducing the risk of dementia.

As memory is a fundamental function of daily life and as the brain is the most occupied organ of the body, it continuously declines as people age which hampers the quality of life and productivity.

In order to counter this or diminish the effects of dementia, evidence from a recent study has shown that a healthy lifestyle can be beneficial to keep the memory of a person intact. All the previous research in this area has been insufficient to evaluate the effect of a healthy lifestyle on the trajectory of memory, but now we can say that healthy lifestyle choices are linked with softening the speed of memory decline.

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"A combination of positive healthy behaviours is associated with a slower rate of memory decline in cognitively normal older adults", researchers from the National Centre for Neurological Disorders in Beijing, China, wrote in the BMJ.

Practising multiple healthy lifestyle choices together "was associated with a lower probability of progression to mild cognitive impairment and dementia", they added.

Researchers analysed 29,000 adults aged over 60 with normal cognitive function who were part of the China Cognition and Aging Study.

A healthy lifestyle score was calculated by combining six factors:

• A healthy diet
• Regular exercise
• Active social contact
• Cognitive activity
• Non-smoking
• Not drinking alcohol

Based on their score, ranging from zero to six, participants were put into lifestyle groups, favourable (four to six healthy factors), average (two to three healthy factors), or unfavourable (0 to 1 healthy factors) – and into APOE-carrier and non-carrier groups.

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The healthy lifestyle choices that can help slow down the rate of memory decline:

1. According to the research, a healthy diet was deemed as eating at least seven out of these 12 food groups: fruits, vegetables, fish, meat, dairy, salt, oil, eggs, cereals, legumes, nuts and tea.

2. Writing, reading, playing cards or other games at least twice a week was the second area of healthy behaviour.

3. Other areas included drinking no alcohol, exercising for more than 150 minutes a week at moderate intensity or more than 75 at a vigorous intensity, and never having smoked or been an ex-smoker.

4. Social contact at least twice a week was the sixth healthy behaviour, including activities such as visiting family and friends, attending meetings or going to parties.

After accounting for factors likely to affect the results, the researchers found that each individual healthy behaviour was associated with a slower-than-average decline in memory over 10 years.

Dr Susan Mitchell, head of policy at Alzheimer’s Research UK, said, "This is a well-conducted study, which followed people over a long period of time, and adds to the substantial evidence that a healthy lifestyle can help to support memory and thinking skills as we age."

The BMJ concluded, "People with four to six healthy behaviours or two to three were almost 90% and almost 30% respectively less likely to develop dementia or mild cognitive impairment relative to those who were the least healthy"

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