Venu Menon
Wellington, November 17,2023
A new study shows that eating habits during middle age impacts memory loss in women later in life.
The study, published last month in the journal ‘Alzheimer’s and Dementia,’ found that a diet designed to lower blood pressure during middle age could “potentially improve cognitive function for women as they age.”
The finding gains importance as women “make up more than two-thirds of all people diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, the most common and prevalent form of dementia.”
Signs of Alzheimer’s disease
Alzheimer’s disease is a neurological disorder that causes memory loss, thinking and language problems, and behavioural changes.
It is the most common form of dementia, a group of symptoms that, over time, causes a progressive reduction in a person’s ability to think, reason, and remember, the study says.
Eating habits
Said US-based senior study author Yu Chen, professor at New York University’s Department of Population Health: “With more than 30 years follow-up, we found that the stronger the adherence in midlife to a diet aimed at regulating blood pressure, the less likely women are to report cognitive issues much later in life.”
For the study, researchers at NYU’s Grossman School of Medicine tracked the eating habits of over 5,000 women enrolled in the decades-long NYU Women’s Health Study.
Women aged 46 years on average, between 1985 and 1991, were chosen for the study. They were asked about “difficulties in remembering recent events or shopping lists, understanding spoken instructions or group conversation, or navigating familiar streets.”
As per data based on health questionnaires, women whose diet included plenty of fruits, vegetables, lean proteins, and low-fat dairy were 17% less likely to have cognitive impairment in 2018-2020, at an average age of 79, the study said.
Wider research was needed across multiple racial and ethnic groups before the findings could be applied to the general population, the researchers noted.
Diet-brain connection
But this outcome was not surprising to Anna Nordvig, neurologist at Well Cornell Medicine’s Alzheimer’s Disease and Memory Disorders Program. She said the results “reinforce the advice we give to our patients: improve your cardiovascular health to improve your brain health.”
Said Raphael Wald, a neuropsychologist with the US-based Marcus Neuroscience Institute: “The two most common causes of dementia are Alzheimer’s disease and cerebrovascular disease (stroke). The greatest controllable risk factor for both of these forms of dementia is any vascular risk such as diabetes, hypothyroidism, poor diet, or hypertension.”
Wald added: “Focusing on a diet that reduces hypertension would reduce vascular risks and subsequently reduce the risk for Alzheimer’s disease and vascular dementia.”
Why vascular problems dramatically impacted cognition had partly to do with the supply of oxygen to the brain.
“Consistently maintaining a healthy blood pressure can support proper blood flow and oxygen delivery to the brain, which are crucial for preserving cognitive abilities,” said Veronica Rouse, a prominent heart dietician and blogger.
Women at higher risk
The new research on the diet-brain connection was especially relevant to women, since women were more likely than men to experience cognitive decline in their later years.
However, science had yet to unearth exactly why women were at higher risk than men of experiencing cognitive decline as they aged.
According to Wald, a possible reason was that women tended to live longer than men, “and since advanced age is a major factor in cognitive decline, this may be a primary underlying cause.”
The new findings had implications for the approximately 6.5 million Americans aged 65 and above who were diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in 2022.
That number was expected to increase by more than half by 2060.
Plant-based diet
Doctors have recommended a plant-based diet rich in potassium, calcium, and magnesium, along with a low intake of saturated fat, cholesterol, sodium, and sugar, as well as exercise and lifestyle modifications, to stave off dementia.
Venu Menon is an Indian Newslink reporter based in Wellington
