In a study from the University of Glasgow, scientists found a healthy lifestyle reduces the risk of dementia in those with type 2 diabetes (T2D).
The study found that individuals with T2D and an unhealthy lifestyle were much more likely to develop dementia than people without T2D and a very healthy lifestyle.
However, a healthy lifestyle almost halved the likelihood of people with T2D developing dementia.
An unhealthy lifestyle and T2D are known to individually raise the risk of dementia. It hasn’t been clear, however, whether a healthy lifestyle can reduce the risk of dementia in those with T2D.
In the current study, the team tracked almost 450,000 participants of the U.K. Biobank study on the development of dementia.
The 445,364 participants (54.6% female) had an average age of 55.6 years and were followed up for a median of 9.1 years.
All were free of dementia at the start of this period. 24,735 (5.5%) reported having T2D at the start of the study.
Participants filled in a questionnaire that covered television viewing time, sleep duration, physical activity, alcohol consumption, smoking status and dietary intake of processed and red meat, fruit and vegetables and oily fish.
Their answers were used to divide them into three groups: most healthy, moderately healthy and least healthy.
The team found both T2D and an unhealthy lifestyle were associated with a higher risk of dementia. Those with T2D were 33% more likely to develop dementia than those without T2D.
An unhealthy lifestyle was even more strongly associated with dementia. The participants with the least healthy lifestyles were 65% more likely to develop dementia than those with the healthiest lifestyle.
Further analysis showed that a healthy lifestyle appears to reduce the risk of dementia in those with T2D.
People with diabetes and the healthiest lifestyles were 45% less likely to develop dementia than those with diabetes and the unhealthiest lifestyles.
The researchers conclude that a healthy lifestyle can attenuate the effect of T2D on the risk of dementia.
If you care about diabetes, please read studies about a new cause of type 2 diabetes, and daily habit that could effectively prevent type 2 diabetes.
For more information about brain health, please see recent studies about how vitamin supplementation may affect the dementia risk, and recent case shows these antioxidants could help reduce the risk of dementia.
The study was conducted by Ms. Jirapitcha Boonpor et al and presented at the annual meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes.
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