Study reveals seven healthy practises associated with lower risk of dementia in people with genetic risk

As per new research conducted by the American Institute of Neurology seven lifestyle habitsthat may play a role in lowering incidence of dementia in persons with genetic riskhave been identifiedThe findings of the research were published in the journal NeurologyThe seven cardiovascular and brain health factors known as the American Heart Associations Lifes Simple 7 are being active eating better losing weight not smoking maintaining healthy blood pressure controlling cholesterol and reducing blood sugarThese healthy habits in the Lifes Simple 7 have been linked to a lower risk of dementia overall but it is uncertain whether the same applies to people with a high genetic risk said study author Adrienne Tin PhD of the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson The good news is that even for people who are at the highest genetic risk living by this same healthier lifestyle are likely to have a lower risk of dementiaThe study looked at 8823 people with European ancestry and 2738 people with African ancestry who were followed for 30 years People had an average age of 54 at the beginning of the studyStudy participants reported their levels in all seven health factors Total scores ranged from 0 to 14 with 0 representing the most unhealthy score and 14 representing the most healthy score The average score among those with European ancestry was 83 and the average score amongst those with African ancestry was 66Researchers calculated genetic risk scores at the start of the study using genomewide statistics of Alzheimers disease which have been used to study the genetic risk for dementiaParticipants with European ancestry were divided into five groups and those with African ancestry were divided into three groups based on 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 Alzheimers disease APOE e4 Of those with European ancestry 279 per cent had the APOE e4 variant while of those who had African ancestry 404 per cent had the APOE e4 variant The group with the lowest risk had the APOE e2 variant which has been associated with a decreased risk of dementiaBy the end of the study 1603 people with European ancestry developed dementia and 631 people with African ancestry developed dementiaFor people with European ancestry researchers found that people with the highest scores in the lifestyle factors had a lower risk of dementia across all five genetic risk groups including the group with the highest genetic risk of dementia For each onepoint increase in the lifestyle factor score there was a 9 per cent lower risk of developing dementiaAmong those with European ancestry compared with the low category of the lifestyle factor score the intermediate and high categories were associated with 30 per cent and 43 per cent lower risk for dementia respectively Among those with African ancestry the intermediate and high categories were associated with a 6 per cent and 17 per cent lower risk for dementia respectivelyAmong people with African ancestry researchers found a similar pattern of declining dementia risk across all three groups among those with higher scores on the lifestyle factors But researchers said the smaller number of participants in this group limited the findings so more research is neededLarger sample sizes from diverse populations are needed to get more reliable estimates of the effects of these modifiable health factors on dementia risk within different genetic risk groups and ancestral backgrounds Tin saidA limitation of the study was the smaller sample size among people of African ancestry and that many African American participants were recruited from one locationThe study was supported by the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute the National Institutes of Health the Department of Health and Human Services and the National Human Genome Research InstituteAlso ReadHeres how you can prevent a burnoutThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever