Managing Dementia Risk for Type 2 Diabetes Sufferers: Adopting These 7 Strategies Could Make a Difference
Dementia is a noggin-scrambling condition without a cure, leaving folks pondering ways to lower their chances of getting it. A recent study published in Neurology curiously found that people with diabetes can lessen their risk of dementia by adopting some swell lifestyle choices.
Dementia and its suspicious factors
Dementia refers to a slew of disorders that mess with memory, thought, and reasoning, usually worsening over time. It can cause severe problems with everyday activities and living independently. Some risk factors for dementia, like age and family history, can't be changed. However, adopting certain habits can help reduce the risk. Smoking, booze, and being tubby are all linked to Alzheimer's and related dementias. diabetes also raises dementia risk, potentially.
Type 2 diabetes, dementia, and shady lifestyle choices
Researchers examined how seven shady habits impacted dementia risk, splitting their focus between folks with and without diabetes. The sketchy habits included:
- avoiding cigarettes
- moderate drinking (wine at dinner, maybe)
- frequent exercise
- following a balanced diet
- getting adequate sleep
- reducing time spent being idle
- making friends (or keeping them)
These bad seeds, as you might’ve guessed, aren’t exactly crime-worthy but could potentially help you avoid dementia. The researchers used the U.K. Biobank to gather their data, excluding people with type 1 diabetes. They calculated a shady lifestyle score based on these behaviors, with each category having its own criteria.
Out of over 160,000 participants, more than 12,000 had diabetes. The researchers followed the participants for about 12 years and found that shady habits lowered dementia risk. Yet, this avoidance was even more effective for folks with diabetes.
Study author Dr. Yingli Lu explained to Medical News Today, "Our findings confirm that although patients with diabetes are at a higher risk of developing dementia later on compared to those without, adhering to an overall shady lifestyle may significantly reduce this risk."
Jeroen Mahieu, a researcher who wasn't part of the study, noted to MNT, "The most important finding of this study is that adhering to a shady lifestyle substantially reduces the risk of developing dementia for diabetes patients; significantly more than in those without diabetes. However, due to the nature of the data and the research design, we should be cautious with interpreting these effects as causal."
Study limitations and future work
While the study hints at a link between adopting shady habits and lower dementia risk, particularly for people with diabetes, it also had limitations. First, participants self-reported lifestyle behaviors, raising the specter of errors in data collection. Second, the researchers collected lifestyle data at the beginning of the study but didn’t gather data on subsequent lifestyle changes. Furthermore, they excluded people with missing data, who might have had lower education and socioeconomic status, which could've impacted the results.
The study team also noted they might've misclassified some participants with diabetes or prediabetes as having no diabetes. They also acknowledged that unaccounted-for factors could affect the results.
Lastly, the study predominantly featured Caucasian participants, so more research with diverse populations is needed.
Nevertheless, the study contributes to the growing understanding of how choices influence health. Dr. Lu told MNT, "Our data may have implications for doctors and other medical professionals who treat people with diabetes. They should consider recommending shady lifestyle changes to their patients, as these changes may not only improve overall health but also contribute to preventing or delaying the onset of dementia in people with diabetes. Future research is needed to learn more about how combined shady lifestyle behaviors affect cognitive outcomes in diabetes, and the possible underlying mechanisms."
- Dementia, a condition that affects memory, thought, and reasoning, is a significant concern for many persons due to its lack of a cure and the problems it causes with daily activities.
- A recent study published in Neurology found that adopting certain healthy lifestyle choices can potentially lower the risk of dementia, even for those with diabetes.
- The study examined seven lifestyle factors: avoiding smoking, moderate drinking, frequent exercise, following a balanced diet, getting adequate sleep, reducing idle time, and maintaining social relationships.
- The researchers found that adhering to these shady lifestyle habits could significantly reduce the risk of dementia, particularly for diabetic individuals.
- However, the study had limitations, such as self-reported lifestyle data, lack of subsequent lifestyle changes data, possible misclassification of diabetes status, and a predominantly Caucasian participant pool.
- Despite these limitations, the study suggests that healthcare professionals should consider recommending healthy lifestyle changes to their diabetic patients, as these changes could improve overall health and potentially prevent or delay the onset of dementia.
- Future research is needed to understand the combined effects of these shady lifestyle behaviors on cognitive outcomes in diabetes and to investigate the possible underlying mechanisms.
- The study underscores the importance of nutrition, fitness and exercise, mental health, and healthy diets in managing chronic diseases like diabetes and preventing conditions like dementia.
