According to a study published in Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology, seven healthy habits and lifestyle factors may help reduce the risk of dementia in people with an increased genetic risk.
The 7 factors
The American Heart Association’s seven important factors for cardiovascular and brain health are known as Life’s Simple 7:
1. be active
2. to eat healthier
3. to lose weight
4. not to smoke
5. maintain a healthy blood pressure
6. to regulate cholesterol
7. to reduce blood sugar
“These healthy habits in Life’s Simple 7 have been linked to a lower risk of dementia overall, but it is uncertain whether the same holds true for people at high genetic risk,” said study author Dr. Adrienne Tin, of the University of Mississippi Medical Center. “The good news is that even for people at the highest relative genetic risk, living this healthier lifestyle is likely to reduce their risk of dementia.”
In the research, 2,738 people of African descent and 8,823 people of European descent were followed for 30 years. At the start of the study, the average age of the participants was 54 years.
Levels of each of the 7 health factors were self-reported by the study participants (as to whether they followed them). Total scores ranged from 0 to 14, with 0 being the lowest score and 14 indicating the highest (healthiest) score. People of European descent scored an average of 8.3, while people of African descent scored an average of 6.6.
The researchers calculated genetic risk scores at the start of the study, using extensive statistics on the Alzheimer’s genome.
According to newsit, participants of European descent were divided into five groups and those of African descent were divided into three groups based on their genetic risk scores. The group with the highest genetic risk included people who had at least one copy of the APOE gene variant (associated with Alzheimer’s disease), APOE e4.
Of those of European ancestry, 27.9% had the APOE e4 variant, while of those of African ancestry, 40.4% had the APOE e4 variant. The lowest-risk group had the APOE e2 variant, which has been associated with a reduced risk of dementia.
By the end of the study, 1,603 people of European descent developed dementia and 631 people of African descent developed dementia.
-For people of European descent, the researchers found that people with the highest scores on the lifestyle factors had a lower risk of dementia in all five genetic risk groups, including the group with the highest genetic risk of dementia.
-For every one-point increase in the lifestyle factor score, there was a 9% lower risk of developing dementia.
-Among those of European descent, compared with the low category of the lifestyle factor score, the middle and high categories were associated with a 30% and 43% lower risk of dementia, respectively.
-Among those of African descent, the middle and high categories were associated with a 6% and 17% lower risk of dementia, respectively.
-Among people of African descent, the researchers found a similar pattern of reduced dementia risk in all three groups among those with higher scores on the lifestyle factors (however, the researchers said the smaller number of participants in this group limited the findings , so more research is needed).
“Larger sample sizes from different populations are needed to have more reliable estimates of the effects of these modifiable health factors on dementia risk in different genetic risk groups,” said Dr. Tin.
A limitation of the study was the smaller sample size among people of African descent and that many African American participants were recruited from one site.
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