Lowering Dementia Risk for Type 2 Diabetes Sufferers: Explore Seven Healthy Habits
Getting a Lower Risk of Dementia with Type 2 Diabetes
Dementia is a severe condition that disrupts one's ability to remember, think, and reason, with no known cure. As people grow older, dementia becomes more common, but adopting healthy lifestyle habits can reduce the risk.
A recent study published in Neurology found that for individuals with type two diabetes, adopting certain healthy habits lowered the risk of dementia significantly.
Dementia and its Risk Factors
Dementia is an umbrella term for a collection of disorders that impact memory and cognitive abilities. Aging and family history are unalterable factors that increase the risk of dementia. However, factors like smoking, obesity, excessive alcohol use, and diabetes can be managed to lower the risk.
Diabetes, particularly type two diabetes, is also linked to dementia. By working closely with their healthcare providers, people with diabetes can manage their condition and reduce associated risks like dementia. Research is ongoing to understand how healthy lifestyle changes can improve diabetes management and decrease dementia risk.
Healthy Lifestyle and Dementia Risk Reduction
Researchers in this study investigated how seven healthy habits affected dementia risk. These habits included:
- Quitting smoking
- Moderate alcohol consumption
- Regular physical activity
- Healthy diet
- Adequate sleep
- Less sedentary behavior
- Frequent social contact
The study utilized data from the U.K. Biobank, focusing on participants aged 60 or older without dementia at the onset. They excluded people with type one diabetes and assigned participants a healthy lifestyle score based on the previously mentioned factors.
Over 160,000 participants, including more than 12,000 with diabetes, were part of the study. Researchers followed participants for an average of 12 years. They discovered that healthy lifestyle choices were linked to a decreased risk of developing dementia. This reduction was more pronounced among people with diabetes.
Dr. Yingli Lu, Ph.D. of Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine in China, commented to Medical News Today:
"Our findings emphasize the importance of adopting a healthy lifestyle to reduce the risk of developing dementia for diabetes patients. Given the greater prevalence of dementia among diabetes patients, this is crucial."
Study Limitations and Future Research
Although the study indicates that healthy lifestyle habits can decrease the risk of dementia, particularly among people with type two diabetes, it had several limitations. These included self-reported lifestyle data and a lack of data on lifestyle factor changes. The study also did not collect lifestyle factor data for participants prior to developing diabetes.
Researchers acknowledged that they may have misclassified participants with diabetes or prediabetes as non-diabetic, and the study's data may be influenced by unknown or unmeasured factors. Moreover, the study included mainly Caucasian participants, and future research with a more diverse population is needed.
Despite its limitations, the study contributes to a growing body of data on the impact of lifestyle choices on health. Dr. Lu stated to Medical News Today:
"Our findings may have important implications for doctors and medical professionals treating individuals with diabetes. They should encourage patients to adopt healthy lifestyle changes, which can improve overall health and potentially contribute to the prevention or delay of dementia in diabetes patients. Further research is necessary to determine the specific benefits of combined healthy lifestyle behaviors on cognitive outcomes in diabetes and the underlying mechanisms."
- Aging and family history can increase the risk of dementia, but factors like smoking, obesity, excessive alcohol use, and diabetes can be managed to lower this risk.
- People with type two diabetes who work closely with their healthcare providers can manage their condition and decrease associated risks like dementia.
- Researchers have found that quitting smoking, moderate alcohol consumption, regular physical activity, a healthy diet, adequate sleep, less sedentary behavior, and frequent social contact can decrease the risk of developing dementia.
- Dr. Yingli Lu, Ph.D. emphasized the importance of adopting a healthy lifestyle, particularly for people with type two diabetes, to reduce the risk of developing dementia.
- The study had limitations, such as self-reported lifestyle data, a lack of data on lifestyle factor changes, and a predominantly Caucasian participant population.
- The study's findings may imply that doctors and medical professionals should encourage diabetes patients to adopt healthy lifestyle changes for overall health improvement and potential dementia prevention or delay.
- As the study contributes to a growing body of data on the impact of lifestyle choices on health, further research is necessary to determine the specific benefits of combined healthy lifestyle behaviors on cognitive outcomes in diabetes patients.
- Understanding the underlying mechanisms of how healthy lifestyle changes affect dementia risk in diabetes patients is crucial for future medical-condition and chronic-disease research, mental-health, health-and-wellness, fitness-and-exercise, and nutrition studies.
