Altering Type 2 Diabetes: Discovering 7 Habits That Could Lower Dementia Risk
Living with Type 2 Diabetes and Lowering Dementia Risk
Dementia is a troublesome condition, and without a cure, people are always on the lookout for ways to decrease their risk of developing it. A recent study in Neurology sheds some light on this matter, particularly for people with type two diabetes.
Dementia and its causes
Dementia refers to a variety of brain disorders that affect a person's ability to remember, think, and reason. It usually worsens over time and can significantly disrupt a person's daily life. Factors like increased age or family history can't be changed, but people can modify other risk factors to reduce risk. For example, smoking, obesity, and excessive alcohol use are all risk factors for Alzheimer's disease and related dementias.
Type 2 diabetes also increases the risk of dementia. However, research is ongoing to better understand how healthy lifestyle choices can improve diabetes management and lower dementia risk.
The role of healthy habits in diabetes management
Researchers from the current study examined how seven healthy habits impacted dementia risk. They looked at both diabetes and non-diabetes cases. The habits included:
- No smoking
- Moderate alcohol consumption
- Regular physical activity
- A healthy diet
- Adequate sleep
- Less sedentary behavior
- Frequent social contact
Using data from the U.K. Biobank, they gathered participants aged 60 or older who started without dementia. They excluded participants with type 1 diabetes and focused on individuals with type 2 diabetes. Each habit had a definition of what researchers considered "healthy." For example, someone was classified as being regularly physically active if they clocked at least 150 minutes of moderate activity or 75 minutes of vigorous activity each week.
More than 160,000 participants were part of the study, with over 12,000 having diabetes. Over an average of 12 years, researchers found that healthy lifestyle choices were associated with a lower risk of dementia. This reduction was even more noticeable among participants with diabetes.
Dr. Yingli Lu, the study's lead author from Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine in China, commented to Medical News Today:
"Our findings suggest that although people with diabetes have a higher risk of developing dementia, adhering to a healthy lifestyle significantly reduces this risk."
The importance of lifestyle choices for dementia prevention
Alzheimer's researcher Jeroen Mahieu, Ph.D., also weighed in on the study, saying:
"The most crucial finding of this study is that adhering to a healthy lifestyle reduces dementia risk substantially for diabetes patients, more so than people without diabetes. This is crucial given the higher prevalence of dementia among diabetes patients. However, due to the nature of the data and the research design, we should be cautious about interpreting these effects as causal."
Study limitations and future research
Though the study suggests that incorporating healthy lifestyle habits lowers dementia risk, especially for people with diabetes, it also had limitations. First, participants self-reported their lifestyle behaviors, which increases the risk of errors in data collection. Second, the researchers only collected data on lifestyle factors at baseline and not changes in those factors. Lastly, the research team acknowledged that there may be unknown or unaccounted-for factors that could influence the study's results. Additionally, the study primarily focused on Caucasian participants, so more diverse studies are needed in the future.
In conclusion, the study reinforces the importance of healthy lifestyle choices in managing diabetes and lowering dementia risk. Further research is needed to determine the exact impact of these habits on cognitive outcomes in diabetes and the possible underlying mechanisms.
- People with type 2 diabetes face a higher risk of developing dementia, but adhering to a healthy lifestyle can significantly reduce this risk.
- Researchers examined seven healthy habits that impacted dementia risk, focusing on individuals with type 2 diabetes.
- The seven habits included no smoking, moderate alcohol consumption, regular physical activity, a healthy diet, adequate sleep, less sedentary behavior, and frequent social contact.
- Healthy lifestyle choices were associated with a lower risk of dementia, particularly among participants with diabetes.
- Despite the study's insights, there were limitations, such as self-reported lifestyle behaviors, lack of data on changes in lifestyle factors, and potential unaccounted-for factors influencing the results.
- The study primarily focused on Caucasian participants, indicating the necessity for more diverse studies in the future.
- Further research is needed to determine the exact impact of healthy habits on cognitive outcomes in diabetes and the possible underlying mechanisms, emphasizing the significance of science and medical-conditions in promoting health-and-wellness.
