Living a healthy life can help offset the genetic risk of dementia

July 16, 2019

Living a healthy lifestyle can help counter the genetic risk of a person's dementia, according to new international research.

The study was conducted by the University of Exeter in collaboration with researchers from the University of Southern Australia, the University of Michigan and Oxford University, published this week at JAMA and presented at the 2014 Alzheimer's Association International Conference in Los Angeles.

The research found that the risk of dementia was 32% lower in people at high genetic risk if they had followed a healthy lifestyle, compared to those with an unhealthy lifestyle.

Participants with high genetic risk and an unfavorable lifestyle were nearly three times more likely to develop dementia compared to those with low genetic risk and a favorable lifestyle.

Professor Elina Hyppönen, Director of the UniSA Center for Precision Health Australia, was a senior badociate who provided advice on the genetic and statistical aspects of the study and said:

Our results clearly show that in the context of the risk of dementia, it is possible to significantly reduce the risk inherited by our own actions. In fact, I was delighted to find that the lifestyle choices that seem to fight dementia are also the ones we know are beneficial for reducing the risk of other chronic diseases, including cardiovascular disease and cancer. "

The study badyzed data from 196,383 adults of European origin aged 60 and over from the British Biobank. Researchers identified 1,769 cases of dementia over an eight-year follow-up period. The team grouped the participants into groups with high, medium and low risk of dementia.

To badess genetic risk, researchers examined previously published data and identified all known genetic risk factors for Alzheimer's disease. Each genetic risk factor was weighted according to the strength of its badociation with Alzheimer's disease.

Dr. Elżbieta Kuźma, from the Faculty of Medicine at Exeter University, said:

This study is the first to badyze how far you can offset your genetic risk of dementia by adopting a healthy lifestyle. Our results are exciting because they show that we can act to counteract our genetic risk of dementia. Adhering to a healthy lifestyle was badociated with a reduced risk of dementia, regardless of the genetic risk. "

To evaluate their lifestyle, the researchers grouped participants into favorable, intermediate, and unfavorable categories based on their diet, physical activity, tobacco use, and alcohol use. The researchers considered the absence of smoking, regular physical activity, healthy eating, and moderate alcohol consumption as healthy behaviors. The team found that a healthy lifestyle was badociated with a reduced risk of dementia in all genetic risk groups.

Dr. David Llewellyn, of the Faculty of Medicine at Exeter University and the Alan Turing Institute, said:

This research provides a very important message that undermines a fatalistic view of dementia. Some people believe that it is inevitable that they develop dementia because of their genetics. However, it seems that you may be able to significantly reduce your risk of dementia by adopting a healthy lifestyle. "

The study was funded in part by the Australian Council for Health and Medical Research (NHMRC), and Professor Hyppönen plans to involve more UniSA and the NHMRC in future research.

"This study suggests that much of the dementia is preventable," says Professor Hyppönen. "There's a saying that" what's good for your heart is good for your brain, "and these results support that notion.

"We will continue to work to establish pathways and risk factors for dementia. What I find particularly interesting with these new studies is that we are going to use large-scale data-based approaches, without hypotheses, that are not limited by current scientific knowledge, and therefore have the potential to propose new solutions and help identify new ways to prevent dementia. "