Share on Pinterest- Medical News Todayhas recently covered various studies that highlight the possible factors that may help protect against dementia.
- Avoiding smoking, diabetes, and high blood pressure in midlife may help delay dementia onset by up to 13 years, according to research.
- Reducing sugar exposure in the first 1,000 days of life could reduce the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease later in life, one study found.
- Researchers also found that women who followed time-restricted eating may experience improved cognitive benefits.
More than 57 million people worldwide have dementia, according to the World Health Organization (WHO)
. Alzheimer’s disease, the most common type of dementia, accounts for around 60% to 70% of dementia cases
The WHO explains that up to 45% of the risks associated with dementia are modifiable. This means that they can be changed or adapted. Some known dementia risk factors include physical inactivity, high blood pressure, diabetes, and alcohol use
Researchers continually explore various avenues to better understand the risk factors associated with dementia. Read on to learn more about some of the recent studies MNThas covered
Avoiding 3 risk factors in midlife could add 13 dementia-free years
Managing or avoiding 3 risk factors for dementia could delay the onset of dementia by 13 years
This is according to research published in Neurology Open Access. Researchers assessed the data of 12,409 participants, focusing on three risk factors:
- diabetes
- high blood pressure (hypertension)
- smoking
They followed participants over a median of 26.3 years, finding that those with no risk factors for dementia were least likely to develop the condition. Individuals with all three risk factors were 2.69 times more likely to develop dementia
In a previous interviewwith MNT, Dung Trinh, MD, an internist at the MemorialCare Medical Group and Chief Medical Officer of Healthy Brain Clinic in Irvine, CA, spokeabout these findings
“I find the results compelling because they reinforce the close connection between cardiovascular health and brain health during midlife,” Trinh, who was not involved in the study, said
“High blood pressure, diabetes, and smoking can damage blood vessels, increase inflammation, and reduce the brain’s resilience over time,” he added
However, Trinh also explained that: “This was an observational study, so it cannot prove that avoiding these conditions will give an individual exactly 13 additional dementia-free years.”
Early life sugar restrictions resulted in reduced dementia risk
Less sugar exposure in the first 1,000 days of life could help reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s disease and all-cause dementia, according to a new study published in npj Aging
The study researchers analyzed data from more than 60,000 U.K. Biobank participants. Each person was born between 1951 and 1956
The purpose was to examine the possible health effects of the end of sugar rationing in 1953. In adults who had been exposed to sugar restriction in the first 1,000 days of life, they had:
- 46% lower risk of Alzheimer’s disease
- 27% lower risk of all-cause dementia
Bing Zhang, PhD, geriatric medicine researcher at Guangzhou First People’s Hospital and senior author of the study, told Medical News Today in a previous interview:
“The first 1,000 days of life are a critical window for brain development, and early nutrition is known to have lasting effects on health. The end of sugar rationing in the U.K. in 1953 created a unique natural experiment: individuals conceived during rationing consumed far less sugar in early life than those born shortly after,” Zhang explained
“This allowed us to study the long-term cognitive effects of early sugar restriction while minimizing confounding by socioeconomic or behavioral factors that typically plague nutritional studies,” he said
MNT also previously spoke with Peter Gliebus, MD, chief of neurology and director of cognitive and behavioral neurology at Marcus Neuroscience Institute, part of Baptist Health South Florida, about the study findings
“Because exposure to sugar was largely determined by when someone was born, it helps reduce some of the biases that often affect nutrition studies,” Gliebus said
“At the same time, I would be careful not to over-interpret the headline finding of a 46% lower risk of Alzheimer’s disease. That result was based on a relatively small number of Alzheimer’s cases, and the participants are still not at the ages when Alzheimer’s becomes most common,” he added
Eating window of 8 to 9 hours could improve cognitive function
Researchers of a recent trial that included 47 participants found that older women who followed time-restricted eating showed improvements in:
- memory
- learning
- problem solving
Participants were between the ages of 50 and 79 years with either overweight or obesity. They were counseled to reduce their caloric intake by around 500 calories, and were placed in one of two groups
One group ate during their usual times, while the other group was assigned an eating window of no more than 9 hours. These participants were required to abstain from eating for the rest of the day
After 6 months, both groups experienced a similar reduction in body weight. However, those following time-restricted eating saw an increase in cognitive function
Dung Trinh, MD, internist, of MemorialCare Medical Group and Chief Medical Officer of Healthy Brain Clinic in Irvine, CA, previously spoke with MNTabout cognitive health and time-restricted eating
“The main takeaway is that when people eat may matter for cognitive health, not just how much they eat,” said Trinh, who was not involved in the trial
As this was a small study, however, Trinh cautioned that “the findings should be viewed as preliminary. We are not saying that time-restricted eating prevents dementia or treats Alzheimer’s disease. Rather, the results suggest that meal timing may be an important and modifiable lifestyle factor that deserves further study.”
He added, “For healthcare professionals, the findings highlight the potential value of looking beyond calories and weight loss alone and considering the timing and consistency of food intake as part of a broader discussion about metabolic and cognitive health.”
