Lifestyle and diet stem Alzheimer's risk: study

Courtesy of USA Today

Improved lifestyle and diet habits — including lots of physical activity, regular tea-drinking and sufficient vitamin D levels — could reduce the risk of brain decline, according to three studies presented Sunday at the Alzheimer's Association International Conference.

One of the studies is from the Framingham, Mass., cardiovascular risk study, in which researchers from Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, among others, tracked over 1,200 elderly people over 20 years, 242 of whom developed dementia.

They found that participants who performed moderate to heavy levels of physical activity had about a 40% lower risk of developing any type of dementia. Those who reported the least amount of activity were 45% more likely to develop dementia compared to those who logged higher levels of activity.

In a second study, including data on more than 4,800 men and women aged 65 and older, participants were followed for up to 14 years. Tea drinkers had less mental decline than non-tea drinkers. Those who imbibed 1 to 4 times a week had average annual rates of decline 37% lower than tea abstainers. Coffee didn't show any impact except at the highest levels of consumption, say researchers.

Author Lenore Arab, of UCLA, says: "Interestingly, the "Vitamin D is neuroprotective in a number of ways including the protection of the brain's blood supply and the clearance of toxins," says author David Llewellyn, of the University of Exeter Peninsula Medical School.

"More and more studies are suggesting that lifestyle changes may be able to silence the expression of risk genes, a phenomenon called epigenetics," says Duke aging expert Murali Doraiswamy. He says learning how to tap into that is going to be a high priority.

Bonnie - while this is not good news for Big Pharma, it is wonderful for everyone else! Following these three principles is much cheaper than the outlandishly priced Alzheimer's meds that to date, have had no measurable impact.