7 habits that reduce the risk of dementia

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There are seven habits that can reduce the risk of dementia.

Middle aged people who have been following the seven ways of healthy life for some time have a lower risk of being diagnosed with dementia later in life, according to a new American scientific research.

These seven factors are: physical activity, healthy diet, normal body weight, not smoking, healthy blood pressure, cholesterol control, and low blood sugar. The more one maintains these habits, the more one decreases the chance of dementia over time.

The researchers, led by Dr. Pamela Rist of Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, who made the announcement at an annual conference of the American Academy of Neurology, analyzed data on 13,720 women with an average age of 54 years, who were followed for 20 years, during which 1,771 (13%) had dementia.

What the survey revealed

For each of the seven healthy factors, each woman was given a score from zero (poor or moderate) to one (ideal), with a maximum total score of seven. The average score was 4.3. It was found that for each one-point increase in this overall score, the risk of later dementia was reduced by 6%.

“Since we now know that dementia can start in the brain decades before diagnosis, it is important that we learn that habits in middle age can affect the risk of dementia at an older age. The good news is that when one makes healthy choices in life during middle age, this can lead to a reduced risk of dementia later in life,” Dr. Rist said.

“It’s encouraging for people to know that by taking certain steps, such as exercising for half an hour a day or keeping their blood pressure under control, they can reduce the risk of dementia,” he added.

Source: amna.gr