middle-aged

Exercise may be #1 way to prevent dementia

  • A long-running study involving women only found that regular exercise in middle age was the most effective they could do to prevent later cognitive decline.

A long-running study following 387 Australian women found that regular exercise in middle age was the best lifestyle change they could make to prevent cognitive decline in their later years.

The women were aged 45-55 when the study began in 1992. Health and lifestyle factors were assessed at intervals over the next 20 years.

Memory was assessed using a Verbal Episodic Memory test in which they were asked to learn a list of 10 unrelated words and attempt to recall them 30 minutes later.

Frequent physical activity, normal blood pressure, and high good cholesterol were all strongly associated with better recall, with regular exercise of any type emerging as the number one protective factor against memory loss.

The benefits of exercise were cumulative, meaning that every year’s activity counted. Similarly, the negative effects of high blood pressure were also cumulative. What you do over the course of your life, especially in middle age, matters! Which is not to say that’s a reason not make changes later in life. Better late than never definitely applies.

Reference: 

Szoeke, C., Lehert, P., Henderson, V. W., Dennerstein, L., Desmond, P., & Campbell, S. (2016). Predictive Factors for Verbal Memory Performance Over Decades of Aging: Data from the Women’s Healthy Ageing Project. The American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 24(10), 857–867. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jagp.2016.05.008

Source: 

Topics: 

tags development: 

tags lifestyle: 

tags problems: 

High cholesterol intake & eggs don't increase dementia risk

A large, long-running Finnish study looking at the dietary habits of 2,497 men aged 42-60 has found that a high intake of dietary cholesterol was not associated with the risk of dementia or Alzheimer's disease, even among carriers of the ‘Alzheimer’s gene’ APOE4.

Previous research has found that the effect of dietary cholesterol on serum cholesterol levels is more visible in carriers of APOE4. In Finland, the prevalence of the APOE4 gene variant is exceptionally high and approximately a third of the population are carriers.

The consumption of eggs was not only not associated with an increased risk of dementia or Alzheimer's, but on the contrary, was associated with better cognitive performance on some tests.

The highest level of average daily dietary cholesterol intake was 520 mg and these participants consumed an average of one egg per day.

Reference: 

Ylilauri, M.P.T. et al. 2017. Association of dietary cholesterol and egg intakes with risk of incident dementia or Alzheimer's disease: The Kuopio Ischaemic Heart Disease Risk Factor Study. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition; First published online January 4, 2017. doi: 10.3945/ajcn.116.146753 http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/early/2017/01/04/ajcn.116.146753.abstract?papetoc

Source: 

Topics: 

tags development: 

tags lifestyle: 

tags problems: 

Lots of fruit & veges helps older brains

Data from the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging, involving 8,574 middle-aged and older adults (aged 45-85), has found that those who ate more vegetables and fruits and more nuts and pulses (such as lentils and beans) scored higher on tests of verbal fluency. Every increase in average daily fruit and vegetable intake was linked to higher verbal fluency scores, but the best outcomes were found among those who consumed at least 6 servings a day.

Additionally, those with stage 2 hypertension had lower verbal fluency scores, as did those with higher levels of body fat.

Reference: 

Fuller-Thomson, E., Saab, Z., Davison, K. M., Lin, S. L., Taler, V., Kobayashi, K., & Tong, H. (2020). Nutrition, Immigration and Health Determinants are Linked to Verbal Fluency among Anglophone Adults in the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging (CLSA). The Journal of Nutrition, Health & Aging, 24(6), 672–680. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12603-020-1402-8

Source: 

Topics: 

tags development: 

tags lifestyle: 

tags problems: 

Light drinking may protect brain function

A 10-year study involving 19,887 middle-aged and older Americans, who completed surveys every two years about their health and lifestyle, has found that those who had a drink or two a day tended to show less cognitive decline, compared to non-drinkers.

Cognitive function was measured in a series of tests looking at their overall mental status, word recall and vocabulary. Their test results were combined to form a total cognitive score.

Age, smoking and education level were controlled for.

However, it is still hard to say whether the link is causal or correlational. The researchers do not encourage anyone to start drinking in order to prevent cognitive function decline.

The association was also stronger among white participants versus African American participants, which perhaps adds weight to the view that the association is correlational, that is, linked to other behaviors which are the true reason.

Reference: 

Zhang R, Shen L, Miles T, et al. Association of Low to Moderate Alcohol Drinking With Cognitive Functions From Middle to Older Age Among US Adults. JAMA Netw Open. 2020;3(6):e207922. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2020.7922

Source: 

Topics: 

tags development: 

tags lifestyle: 

Is there really a level at which alcohol benefits cognition?

  • A very large study of adults aged 40-73 found evidence that alcohol's suggested benefit for cognition applies to a much lower level of alcohol consumption than previously claimed — only one drink a day.
  • Another longitudinal study that also removed the bias that's thought to come from including non-drinkers in the analysis, found no evidence for any cognitive benefits at any level of alcohol consumption.

Large study shows level of beneficial alcohol consumption much lower than thought

A UK study using data from 13,342 middle-aged and older adults (40-73) has found that having up to one standard unit of alcohol a day improved reaction time, but more than that amount harmed cognitive performance. The effect was more pronounced in older adults.

While several studies have suggested a U-shaped relationship between alcohol and cognition, with light to moderate consumption being beneficial to older adults, this has been quite controversial, with little consensus on how much is too much.

This study uses data from the over half a million people who participated in the UK Biobank prospective cohort study. Of these, 20,346 undertook a repeat assessment 5 years after the initial assessment. The study excluded any who disclosed a history of neurological disorder, and then included only those who consumed alcohol at least once a week. Weekly drinkers had lower levels of socioeconomic deprivation, were more likely to hold a university degree, and to be male.

Cognitive performance was assessed very simply, using a 'stop-go' reaction time task. RT decreased as alcohol consumption increased up to 10g/day, and then increased after that point. This harmful effect became stronger as people got older.

This level of 10 g/day is markedly lower than that suggested by other studies, which have variously argued for: up to 40g for women and 80g for men; up to 34g for middle-aged adults; no more than 16g.

The study omitted people who didn't drink at all, because of the 'sick quitter' effect — it's been argued that the apparent connection between moderate alcohol consumption and better health and cognition is due to bias in the control group, with many people abstaining or quitting due to health issues, and this has been supported by some recent studies. For example, a 2016 review and meta-analysis found no significant difference in mortality for low-volume drinkers once abstainer biases were adjusted for.

The main takeaway from this study — which seems quite robust given the scale of the study — is that the level of 'positive' alcohol consumption is much lower than previously claimed.

The study is open access, and can be read in its entirety at https://academic.oup.com/jpubhealth/article/40/2/304/4793394

Study shows no benefits from alcohol consumption once abstainer bias accounted for

Another longitudinal study, using a subset of participants in the Swedish Twin Registry, found no evidence for any cognitive benefits at any level of alcohol consumption.

Participants were those 486 individuals who had been surveyed on their alcohol intake in their midlife (in 1967), and also taken part in cognitive assessments 25 years later. Cognitive tests occurred at 2-year intervals for the next 10 years.

The study found a significant negative dose-response association between alcohol intake in midlife and performance on the MMSE and tests of episodic memory. There was no significant association with semantic memory and spatial ability.

As with the other study, in order to remove abstainer bias, non-drinkers were excluded from the analysis. There were 181 non-drinkers, and this group were more likely to be women, to have less education, lower socioeconomic status, higher BMI, and were more likely to have diabetes and hypertension. They did indeed perform worse on all cognitive tests, but as you can see, most of the characteristics of this group do lend themselves to such a result.

Midlife alcohol consumption was used because it was assumed that this would give a better reflection of lifetime habits than that reported in old age. As it happened, there were no heavy drinkers in the cohort — the highest consumption was 15 units/week. In this study, 1 unit corresponded to 12g.

The study is open access, and can be read in its entirety at https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnagi.2018.00081/full

Reference: 

Giovanni Piumatti, Simon C Moore, Damon M Berridge, Chinmoy Sarkar, John Gallacher, The relationship between alcohol use and long-term cognitive decline in middle and late life: a longitudinal analysis using UK Biobank, Journal of Public Health, Volume 40, Issue 2, June 2018, Pages 304–311, https://doi.org/10.1093/pubmed/fdx186

Hassing, L. B. (2018). Light Alcohol Consumption Does Not Protect Cognitive Function: A Longitudinal Prospective Study. Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience, 10. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnagi.2018.00081

 

Source: 

Topics: 

tags development: 

tags lifestyle: 

Diet quality in midlife not associated with dementia risk

  • A large, long-running study found that self-reported diet during midlife was not linked to later dementia risk.

A long-running study involving 8225 adults found that self-reported diet during midlife (mean age 50) was not significantly associated with subsequent risk for dementia.

Dietary intake was assessed in 1991-1993, 1997-1999, and 2002-2004, with follow-up for incident dementia until March 31, 2017. Diet quality was assessed using the Alternate Healthy Eating Index (AHEI), an 11-component diet quality score (score range, 0-110), with higher scores indicating a healthier diet.

There were 344 cases of incident dementia developed in the study period. 69.1% of participants were male.

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2019-03/jn-wdq030719.php

Reference: 

Source: 

Topics: 

tags development: 

tags lifestyle: 

tags problems: 

Smoking, hypertension, diabetes & obesity each linked to poor brain health

  • A large study has found that smoking, high blood pressure, diabetes, and obesity are each linked to more brain atrophy, and damage to white matter.
  • The more of these you have, the greater the shrinkage and damage.

Brain scans of 9,772 people aged 44 to 79, who were enrolled in the UK Biobank study, have revealed that smoking, high blood pressure, high pulse pressure, diabetes, and high BMI — but not high cholesterol — were all linked to greater brain shrinkage, less grey matter and less healthy white matter.

Smoking, high blood pressure, and diabetes were the most important factors, but there was also a compound effect, with the number of vascular risk factors being associated with greater damage to the brain. On average, those with the highest vascular risk had nearly 3% less volume of grey matter, and one-and-a-half times the damage to their white matter, compared to people who had the lowest risk.

The brain regions affected were mainly those involved in ‘higher-order’ thinking, and those known to be affected early in the development of dementia.

The associations were as strong for middle-aged adults as for older ones, suggesting the importance of tackling these factors early.

While the effect size was small, the findings emphasize how vulnerable the brain is to vascular factors even in relatively healthy adults. This also suggests the potential of lifestyle changes for fighting cognitive decline.

Although this study didn't itself examine cognitive performance in its participants, other studies have shown links between cognitive impairment and vascular risk factors, particularly diabetes, obesity, hypertension, and smoking.

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2019-03/esoc-shb030719.php

Cognitive decline in type 2 diabetes linked to white matter hyperintensities

While type 2 diabetes has been associated with cognitive problems, the mechanism has been unclear. Now a study involving 93 people with type 2 diabetes has found that greater white matter hyperintensities (indicative of cerebral small vessel disease) were associated with decreased processing speed (but not with memory or executive function).

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2018-09/w-rem091818.php

Reference: 

Cox, Simon R. et al. 2019. Associations between vascular risk factors and brain MRI indices in UK Biobank. European Heart Journal. doi:10.1093/eurheartj/ehz100

[4395] Mankovsky, B., Zherdova N., van den Berg E., Biessels G.-J., & de Bresser J.
(2018).  Cognitive functioning and structural brain abnormalities in people with Type 2 diabetes mellitus.
Diabetic Medicine. 35(12), 1663 - 1670.

 

Topics: 

tags development: 

tags lifestyle: 

tags problems: 

Daily crosswords linked to sharper brain in later life

  • A very large online study has found that doing word puzzles regularly protects against age-related cognitive decline.

Data from more than 17,000 healthy people aged 50 and over has revealed that the more regularly participants engaged with word puzzles, the better they performed on tasks assessing attention, reasoning and memory.

Study participants took part in online cognitive tests, as well as being asked how frequently they did word puzzles such as crosswords. There was a direct relationship between the frequency of word puzzle use and the speed and accuracy of performance on nine cognitive tasks.

The effect was considerable. For example, on test measures of grammatical reasoning speed and short-term memory accuracy, performing word puzzles was associated with brain function equivalent to ten years younger than participants’ chronological age.

The next question is whether you can improve brain function by engaging in puzzles.

The study used participants in the PROTECT online platform, run by the University of Exeter and Kings College London. Currently, more than 22,000 healthy people aged between 50 and 96 are registered in the study. PROTECT is a 10 year study with participants being followed up annually to enable a better understanding of cognitive trajectories in this age range.

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2017-07/uoe-dcl071417.php

Reference: 

The Relationship Between the Frequency of Word Puzzle Use and Cognitive Function in a Large Sample of Adults Aged 50 to 96 Years, was presented at the Alzheimer's Association International Conference (AAIC) 2017 on July 17.

Source: 

Topics: 

tags development: 

tags problems: 

tags strategies: 

Rapid blood pressure drops in middle age linked to dementia in old age

  • A large study indicates that an inclination to dizziness on standing up is associated with a greater risk of developing cognitive impairment and dementia decades later.

Data from over 11,500 participants in the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) cohort has found evidence that orthostatic hypotension in middle age may increase the risk of cognitive impairment and dementia 20 years later.

Orthostatic hypotension is the name for the experience of dizziness or light-headedness on standing up. Previous research has suggested an association between orthostatic hypotension and cognitive decline in older adults.

In this study, participants aged 45-64 were tested for orthostatic hypotension in 1987. Those with it (703, around 6%) were 40% more likely to develop dementia in the next 20 years. They also had some 15% more cognitive decline.

Orthostatic hypotension was defined as a drop of 20 mmHg or more in systolic blood pressure or 10 mmHg or more in diastolic blood pressure, when the individual stood up after 20 minutes lying down.

More work is needed to understand the reason for the association.

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2017-03/jhub-rbp030817.php

Rawlings, Andreea. 2017. Orthostatic Hypotension is Associated with 20-year Cognitive Decline and Incident Dementia: The Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) Study. Presented March 10 at the American Heart Association's EPI|LIFESTYLE 2017 Scientific Sessions in Portland, Oregon.

Topics: 

tags development: 

tags problems: 

Pages

Subscribe to RSS - middle-aged
Error | About memory

Error

The website encountered an unexpected error. Please try again later.