Diets reduce the risk of cognitive decline

The Mediterranean diet is a factor in reducing the risk of cognitive decline - a state between normal aging and dementia - or from cognitive decline to Alzheimer's disease, according to one. reported in the journal Archives of Neurology in February.

The authors write in the article: 'In behavioral characteristics, diets play an important role in causing and preventing Alzheimer's disease'. Previous studies have shown that people who consume Mediterranean diets have a lower risk of Alzheimer's disease. They use a lot of fish, vegetables, beans, fruits, cereals and unsaturated fatty acids, and use less dairy, meat and saturated fats as well as alcoholic beverages.

Nikolaos Scarmeas and colleagues at Columbia University Medical Center, New York, calculated scores for complying with the Mediterranean diet of 1393 people with no problems with consciousness and 482 patients with mild cognitive impairment. Participants were assessed, interviewed and tested for cognitive impairment and were asked to complete a food questionnaire from 1992 to 1999.

During an average of 4.5 years, 275 of the 1393 participants formed a state of cognitive decline. Compared to one third of those with the lowest score for adherence to the Mediterranean diet, one-third of those with the highest scores were at 28% less likely to develop cognitive impairment, and 1 / 3 remaining in the middle of the risk of 17% lower .

Researchers believe that Mediterranean diets improve cholesterol, blood sugar and blood vessels in general, or reduce inflammation, all of which are linked to impaired reception. awake. (Photo: iStockphoto)

Of 482 people with mild cognitive impairment at the start of the study, 106 developed Alzheimer's disease over a 4.3 year period. Adherence to the Mediterranean diet is also associated with a lower risk of disease metabolism.One-third of the people with the highest scores in adherence to the diet had a 48% reduction in risk, and a third of those in the middle had a 45% reduction in risk compared to a third of the lowest.

The Mediterranean diet can improve cholesterol, blood sugar and blood vessels in general, or reduce inflammation, all of which are linked to cognitive decline. Individual feed components of diets also affect the risk of cognitive decline.'For example, beneficial effects on cognitive impairment or metabolism from cognitive decline to Alzheimer's disease have been reported due to consumption of foods such as fish, fatty acids that are unable to produce cholesterol (copper It works better with age-related cognitive decline, and lower levels of saturated fatty acid consumption. '

Extensive studies are needed to confirm the role of diet-related factors in the development of cognitive decline and Alzheimer's disease, the researchers concluded,

Research was funded by the National Aging Academy.

Refer
1. Nikolaos Scarmeas;Yaakov Stern;Richard Mayeux;Jennifer J. Manly;Nicole Schupf;Jose A. Luchsinger.Mediterranean Diet and Mild Cognitive Impairment.Arch Neurol., 2009;66 (2): 216-225 [link]