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Dementia diagnoses are steadily increasing, due to the fact that more and more people are living longer. However, a new study highlights three key lifestyle habits that increase your risk of developing debilitating brain disease.
One in 14 people over the age of 65 suffers from dementia, with the disease affecting nearly one in six people over the age of 80.
There is no specific way to prevent all types of dementia, as researchers are still studying how the disease develops.
However, there is good evidence that certain lifestyle habits can increase your risk of developing dementia, in a new study that identifies the top three factors that can increase your risk.
The study, published in the journal Neurology, found that three particular lifestyle habits tend to increase a person’s risk for dementia.
The study indicated that all three lifestyle habits affected dementia risk scores, reduced tests of a person’s thinking skills, altered brain scans, and were more likely to develop cognitive impairment.
He also found that test results in the men were linked to poor memory function and signs of brain shrinkage.
The study involved 4,164 people with an average age of 59 who took a test called “Lifestyle for Brain Health” (LIBRA).
The overall score reflects the likelihood that a person will develop dementia given 11 of the 12 lifestyle factors in the test, including high blood pressure, heart disease, smoking, diet, and physical activity. .
Study participants took tests of memory and other thinking skills, such as information processing speed, executive function, and attention.
The researchers also looked at brain scans for signs of small vessel disease in the brain, which are signs of damage to blood vessels in the brain often seen in patients with dementia.
The researchers found that people in the high-risk group of the LIBRA test, which indicates a less healthy lifestyle for the brain, had three main lifestyle habits that increased their risk and lowered their test results.
1. High blood pressure
Research has shown that high blood pressure, especially in middle age, dramatically increases the risk of developing dementia.
Studies show that people with high blood pressure in the critical period, between the ages of 30 and 50, are two-thirds more likely to develop debilitating brain disease.
High blood pressure poses serious health risks by damaging and narrowing blood vessels in the brain, which increases the risk of rupture or blockage.
2. Smoke
The World Health Organization warns that smokers are 45% more likely to develop dementia than non-smokers.
It is estimated that 14 percent of all cases of Alzheimer’s disease worldwide are likely to be attributed to smoking.
“Since there is currently no cure for dementia, public health interventions must focus on prevention by modifying modifiable risk factors such as smoking,” says Dr Shekhar Saxena, director of the health department. Mental and Substance Abuse from the World Health Organization.
3. Poor diet
Diets high in saturated and trans fat have been shown to increase cognitive decline and the risk of developing dementia.
Researchers have found that good nutrition and exercise can affect neurogenesis in the hippocampus – the process by which the brain produces new brain cells.
The results of the study suggest that altered neurogenesis in the brain may represent an early biomarker of cognitive decline (DC) and dementia.
Factors such as exercise, nutrition, vitamin D and carotenoid levels, and lipid levels have also been found to be associated with the rate of cell death.
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