Lifestyle does play an important role in our life. Living a bad, unhealthy lifestyle can certainly have negative effects on the body. On the other hand, living a good, healthy lifestyle can help improve your health. There are several risks of health problems that can occur if you live an unhealthy lifestyle, one of which is Alzheimer's.
Alzheimer's is a disease associated with a decline in cognitive function. Unhealthy habits such as smoking, alcoholism, poor diet, and laziness to exercise are factors that can increase the risk of Alzheimer's. Therefore, to reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s, a healthy lifestyle is highly recommended. According to the results of a study conducted by The Australian National University, researchers found that a healthier lifestyle can help reduce the risk of Alzheimer's, despite prior cognitive decline.
In the study, researchers analysed 119 participants over 65 years of age and who had experienced cognitive decline. Half of the participants were asked to change their lifestyle to a healthier one, including diet and more physical activity, while the remaining half continued to live their regular lifestyle. During the follow-up period, each participant was asked to take online training and took several tests, including a questionnaire to measure their cognitive function abilities.
The results showed that those who changed their lifestyle had a smaller risk of dementia and better cognitive function compared to those who did not change their lifestyle. Similar results were found after six months of follow-up in those who continued to undergo lifestyle changes. The results of this study have been published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.
Text by Anggie Triana
Stock photos from Pixabay
Source(s):
- McMaster, M., Sarang, K., Clare, L., et al (2020). Lifestyle Risk Factors and cognitive Outcomes from the Multidomain Dementia Risk Reduction Randomized Controlled Trial, Body Brain Life for Cognitive Decline (BBl-CD). Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/jgs.16762.
- Medical News Today - Lifestyle changes may offset cognitive decline (2020). https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/lifestyle-changes-may-offset-cognitive-decline, 29 September 2020.