An American study showed that elderly people showed improvement in cognitive tests when they maintained their activity and social participation, and controlled their blood pressure and diabetes.
Researchers at the University of California explained that these personal changes in health and lifestyle could delay or even prevent memory loss associated with Alzheimer’s in older people, as they are most susceptible to this disease.
Memory loss is the main symptom of Alzheimer’s, and initially appears in the form of difficulty remembering recent events or conversations. As the disease progresses, memory deteriorates and other symptoms appear, such as difficulty thinking and a decline in behavioral and social skills.
The two-year study, published Monday in the journal JAMA IM, compared cognitive outcomes, risk factors, and quality of life among 172 participants, half of whom received personal coaching to improve their health and lifestyle on factors believed to increase the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease, such as uncontrolled diabetes. And physical inactivity.
Participants aged 70 to 89 years had at least two of eight risk factors for dementia: physical inactivity, uncontrolled high blood pressure, uncontrolled diabetes, poor sleep, use of prescription medications associated with risk of cognitive decline, and high depressive symptoms. Social isolation, and smoking.
Participants in this trial met with a nurse and a health coach to supervise the implementation of a program to reduce the specific risk factors they wanted to address.
They received training sessions to review their goals every few months, which ranged from tracking high blood pressure and blood sugar, walking daily, and engaging in social activities such as charities, sports activities and cultural events. This means paying attention to social issues and striving to make a positive impact on society.
The researchers found that the participants experienced an improvement in the results of cognitive tests, by rates reaching 74 percent, compared to the group that did not participate in the training.
The researchers added that their study comes within a multi-disciplinary methodological experiment. To monitor the effects of health interventions and lifestyle changes in reducing the risks of Alzheimer’s disease, they pointed out that these programs that focus on reducing the risks are not expensive, unlike anti-disease medications, which require extensive monitoring of their side effects.
They expressed their hope that treatment for Alzheimer’s disease and dementia in the future will focus on a combination of risk-reduction programs and specific medications aimed at undermining disease mechanisms.
2023-11-27 17:38:55
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