A 10-year Chinese study concluded that a combination of healthy lifestyle choices may help slow the rate of memory decline and reduce the risk of dementia.
In their study published in the British Medical Journal, researchers from the National Center for Neurological Disorders in Beijing, China, analyzed 29,000 adults over the age of 60 with normal cognitive function.
With the launch of the study in 2009, the memory function of the donors was measured using tests, and they were examined for a gene called “APOE”, which is the strongest gene for the risk factor for “Alzheimer’s” disease, then the people were monitored for 10 years, with periodic assessments of them.
The study measured the degree of healthy lifestyle of the donors, which combines 6 factors: a healthy diet, regular exercise, active social contact, cognitive activity, not smoking, and not drinking alcohol.
Under the “healthy diet” factor, the study authors had donors eat the recommended intake of at least seven out of 12 food groups: fruits, vegetables, fish, meat, dairy, salt, oil, eggs, grains, legumes, nuts and tea.
Writing, reading, or playing cards or other games at least twice a week was the second area of healthy behaviour.
Other domains included not drinking alcohol, exercising more than 150 minutes per week at a moderate intensity, or more than 75 minutes at a vigorous intensity, and never smoking or being a former smoker.
While social contact at least twice a week was the sixth healthy behavior, including activities such as visiting family and friends, attending meetings, or going to parties.
After accounting for factors likely to influence the results, the researchers found that each individual healthy behavior was associated with a slower-than-average decline in memory over a 10-year period.
The Chinese study also revealed that people with the APOE gene who lived generally healthy lives also experienced a slower rate of memory decline than those with the same gene, and were less healthy.