Big study finds lifestyle changes after age 60 can enhance brain health : NPR

A new study reveals that diet, exercise and other lifestyle changes can considerably improve aging brain health.

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Scientists have unveiled the strongest evidence to date than a combination of diet, exercise and brain training can improve thought and memory in older Americans.

A study of more than 2,100 sedentary people in sixties and the 1970s revealed that those who spent two years on the intensive diet not only improved their mental capacities but seemed to reduce the usual decreases associated with aging.

“These people obtain cognitive functions similar to people [like them who are] One to two years younger than they are, “said Laura Baker, one of the main researchers in the study and professor of gerontology and geriatrics at Wake Forest University School of Medicine.

“It really shows that we can change the trajectories of people over time,” said Jessica Langbaum of the Alzheimer’s Banner’s Institute in Phoenix, which was not involved in research.

The results of what is known as the pointer study was reported at the international conference of the Alzheimer association in Toronto. They were published simultaneously in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

The results are consistent with the previous results of a smaller Finnish study, which involved a less diverse population. They are also consistent with decades of research suggesting that unique interventions, such as exercise, could reduce brain and cognitive changes associated with aging.

A study of at risk

The study of the pointer was limited to people aged 60 to 79 who had normal memory and reflection but were at high risk of cognitive decline and Alzheimer’s disease.

“You had to be sedentary, not a regular exercise, and you had to consume an under-optimal diet,” said Baker.

Half of the participants were invited to find their own plan to eat better and do more exercise.

The other half has entered an intensive and very structured program which included an aerobic exercise four times a week, membership of a healthy and healthy Mediterranean regime, online cognitive training, compulsory social activities and monitoring of blood pressure and blood sugar.

The two groups have improved on memory and cognition tests, but the intensive group did better.

Although difficult, the intensive diet has “changed life” for many participants, says Baker. Most were able to make substantial and lasting changes, thanks to coaching, supervision and many encouragement, she said.

“There is no way to regularly train a new behavior usually or change without intentional work,” said Baker. “It’s impossible.”

Then comes the difficult part

The Alzheimer’s association has spent nearly $ 50 million to carry out the pointer study. The National Institutes of Health have spent an even greater quantity for many participants to undergo brain analyzes, blood tests and sleep studies which, once published, will provide additional information.

The results are limited to changes in normal brain aging, not on Alzheimer’s disease. But scientists believe that lifestyle changes that improve cognition and reduce “brain age” should dement the dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease.

The Alzheimer’s association therefore plans to invest $ 40 million over four years to implement what they have learned to point.

“The translation of the pointer’s prescription to the way we deliver it to the community is absolutely the next step,” explains Snyder.

To do this, the group will ask a range of questions, Snyder says: “What will someone answer? Will it be something of their health care provider? Is it a kind of application, a motivation using technology? Is it something in their technology that it will do?”

These types of effort to change behavior at the national level should be reinforced by the growing desire of Americans of advice on how to improve brain health, she said.

“At the Alzheimer’s association, this is one of the main questions we get,” she said. People often say things like: “My mother had dementia, my father had memory problems – what can I do? And it’s a motivating question for someone. “”

An important step will be the membership of the country’s health care providers, says Langbaum.

“Doctors should deal with lifestyle interventions as they would do a medication,” she said. This would mean prescribing diets like that of the pointer and bringing insurance companies to cover these orders.

Another boost to implementation could come from the results of the study still in progress. These include analyzes of brain scanners and blood tests indicating whether the cognitive improvement of a person was accompanied by measurable changes in the health of the brain.

These results should be published later this year. In the meantime, Langbaum says, even people who live a healthy lifestyle might want to improve their game.

“If you already do the puzzle of the Sunday crosswords and it is not difficult, take something new, find this exercise diet to which you adhere,” she says, “and if you can do it with people, it’s even better.”

Langbaum notes that socialization is one of the best ways to keep your brain young.