- *Being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes could potentially increase the risk of developing dementia, but this can be minimized with the right lifestyle choices.
- Scientists continue to investigate how specific habits may impact dementia risk, especially in individuals with diabetes.
- Data from a recent study implies that people with type two diabetes might actually experience a lower risk of developing dementia when they adopt certain healthy practices.
Lowering Dementia Risk for Type 2 Diabetes Sufferers: Adopting These 7 Habits Could Make a Difference
Dementia is a chronic condition known for its incapacitating effects. With no cure available, folks are often curious about ways to decrease their chances of experiencing this debilitating disease. A recent study published in Neurology suggested that for diabetics, incorporating certain healthy habits may reduce their risk of developing dementia.
Dementia and its contributing factors
Dementia refers to a group of disorders that affect memory, thinking, and reasoning. Over time, it usually worsens, negatively impacting daily life and independence.
Several risk factors for dementia can't be altered, like aging or family history. On the other hand, some risk factors can be controlled. Smoking, being overweight, excessive drinking, and lack of exercise are all risk factors for Alzheimer's disease and related dementias.
Diabetes is also connected to an increased risk of developing dementia, particularly type two diabetes. Working closely with doctors to manage diabetes condition and overall health is crucial. The understanding of how healthy lifestyle changes might improve conditions like diabetes and lower dementia risk is currently the subject of ongoing research.
Type 2 diabetes, dementia, and adaptation of healthy habits
Researchers in this study explored the impact of seven healthy lifestyle habits on dementia risk. They examined these habits in both diabetics and non-diabetics. The habits included:
- not smoking
- modest drinking
- regular exercise
- maintaining a balanced diet
- getting adequate sleep
- minimizing sedentary behavior
- fostering active social contacts
Researchers used data from the U.K. Biobank for their analysis. They included participants 60 years or older, who were free from dementia at the study's start. They specifically avoided participants with type one diabetes for a more focused examination of individuals with type two diabetes.
Researchers assigned participants a healthy lifestyle score based on the seven above criteria. To qualify as having "regular exercise," for example, a person needed "at least 150 minutes/week of moderate activity or 75 minutes/week of vigorous activity or an equivalent combination."
The study had over 160,000 participants, more than 12,000 of whom had diabetes. Over an average of 12 years, researchers found that incorporating these healthy lifestyle habits was associated with a lower risk of developing dementia. This risk reduction was more significant among participants with diabetes.
Dr. Yingli Lu, Ph.D., of Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine in China, shared the following with Medical News Today:
"Our findings underline the fact that despite patients with diabetes being at a higher risk of developing dementia compared to those without, adherence to a healthy lifestyle can substantially decrease this risk."
Jeroen Mahieu, Ph.D., an Alzheimer's researcher, remarked to MNT:
"The main takeaway from this study is that adhering to a healthy lifestyle considerably reduces the risk of developing dementia in diabetes patients; significantly more so than in those without diabetes. This is significant given the higher prevalence of dementia among diabetes patients. However, due to the nature of the data and research design, the effects should be interpreted cautiously."
Study limitations and potential areas of future research
The study indicates that lifestyle changes may decrease the risk of dementia, especially among people with diabetes. But it did have some limitations too.
First, participants' lifestyle behaviors were self-reported, increasing the likelihood of data inconsistencies. Second, researchers collected lifestyle data at the beginning of the study only, without collecting information on subsequent lifestyle factor changes. The study did not collect data about lifestyle factors before participants developed diabetes.
Researchers acknowledged that they had to exclude participants due to missing data, who were more likely to have lower education and socioeconomic status. Consequently, this may have influenced the study's results. Additionally, the research team admitted that they might have misclassified participants with diabetes or prediabetes as not having diabetes.
The authors also noted that although several confounding factors were considered, there could be unknown or unmeasured factors yet to be accounted for. Furthermore, the study primarily involved Caucasian participants, suggesting the need for more diverse studies in the future.
Despite these limitations, the study falls in line with broader findings regarding the impact of lifestyle on health. Dr. Lu explained to MNT:
"Our findings may hold important implications for medical professionals who treat people with diabetes. These professionals should consider suggesting lifestyle changes to their patients. These changes may improve overall health and potentially contribute to postponing or avoiding dementia in people with diabetes. Future research should investigate the specific benefits of combined healthy lifestyle habits on cognitive outcomes in diabetes patients and the possible underlying mechanisms."
- Dementia is a chronic condition that affects memory, thinking, and reasoning, and it worsens over time, impacting daily life and independence.
- Some risk factors for dementia can be controlled, such as smoking, being overweight, excessive drinking, and lack of exercise, which are all risk factors for Alzheimer's disease and related dementias.
- Diabetes, particularly type two diabetes, is connected to an increased risk of developing dementia.
- A recent study published in Neurology suggests that incorporating certain healthy habits might reduce the risk of developing dementia for diabetics, especially through regular exercise, maintaining a balanced diet, getting adequate sleep, minimizing sedentary behavior, fostering active social contacts, and not smoking or drinking excessively.
- In the study, diabetes patients who adopted these healthy lifestyle habits showed a lower risk of developing dementia, and the reduction was more significant among this group compared to non-diabetics.
- Researchers used data from the U.K. Biobank for their analysis and assigned participants a healthy lifestyle score based on the seven habits mentioned above.
- The study found that over an average of 12 years, incorporating these healthy lifestyle habits was associated with a lower risk of developing dementia, supporting the ongoing research and emphasis on health and wellness, fitness and exercise, mental health, nutrition, therapies and treatments, and chronic diseases like type-2 diabetes.
- Due to study limitations, such as self-reported lifestyle behaviors and an all-Caucasian participant population, future research is necessary to confirm the findings and investigate specific benefits of healthy lifestyle habits for diabetes patients, considering diverse populations and possible underlying mechanisms.
