New research finds healthy lifestyles prevent dementia

Keep running if you want to avoid developing dementia as you age.

New research in PLoS ONE has  found that following four of five healthy habits can stave off dementia in middle aged men.

The study, completed over 35 years, tracked 2,235 Welsh men who were between the ages of 45 and 59 when the study began.

The researchers looked to cover all the potential combinations of healthy and unhealthy lifestyle combinations. They tracked eating habits, whether the men were smokers or not, their BMI, exercise levels and alcohol consumption. Having healthy habits in four of these categories decreased chance of developing dementia by 60 per cent. The study also found that exercise was the strongest factor contributing to the prevention of dementia.

On average, men who adopted one of the five healthy habits at the start of the study that they had not followed before decreased their chance of developing dementia by 13 per cent.

“The size of reduction in the instance of disease owing to these simple healthy steps has really amazed us and is of enormous importance in an aging population,” said Cardiff University’s Peter Elwood, the head researcher in the study. “What the research shows is that following a healthy lifestyle confers surprisingly large benefits to health—healthy behaviours have a far more beneficial effect than any medical treatment or preventative procedure.”

Being considered active consisted of walking two miles to and from work each day, or some equivalent level of exercise. Low alcohol intake was rated as consuming three or fewer drinks daily. The study considered healthy eating habits as consuming three or more servings of fruit and vegetables each day.

In Wales about five per cent of the population follow none of the healthy habits and only about one per cent follow all five.