Summary: Opportunities for a healthy lifestyle are unevenly distributed and socially disadvantaged with increased risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease.
Fountain: university of leipzig
Dementia is on the rise in Germany. In the absence of treatment options, the focus is shifting towards dementia prevention. In particular, a healthy lifestyle is considered beneficial for brain health.
A study from the School of Medicine now shows that opportunities for a healthy lifestyle are unevenly distributed: being socially disadvantaged is associated with increased risk of dementia. The current findings have been published in the Journal of Alzheimers Disease.
As the population ages, dementia is on the rise. Currently, around 1.8 million people in Germany suffer from dementia. Population statistics predict an increase to about three million by 2050. International research shows great potential for dementia prevention based on modifiable health and lifestyle factors, such as hypertension, obesity, physical activity and mental and diet. In other words: a healthy lifestyle is good for brain health.
“But the opportunities are unevenly distributed,” says Dr. Susanne Röhr, head of the current study and a researcher at the Institute for Social Medicine, Occupational Medicine and Public Health (ISAP) at the University of Leipzig. “Socially disadvantaged people, such as those with low incomes, tend to be at higher risk of dementia.”
The researchers used data from more than 6,200 participants in the LIFE Adult study at the Research Center for Civilization Diseases in Leipzig. The proportion of women and men was the same. The subjects were between the ages of 40 and 79 and were not affected by dementia.
The large database of the population-based cohort study allows the Leipzig scientists to map a complex lifestyle index with twelve modifiable risk factors for dementia.
These include hypertension, physical activity, smoking, obesity, and eating habits. Subsequently, the influence of the index on the relationship between socioeconomic factors such as education, employment status and household income, and mental performance and neuropsychological test results is examined.
The results of the current study show that differences in mental performance due to social inequalities are related to modifiable health and lifestyle factors for dementia. The image is in the public domain.
The results of the current study show that differences in mental performance due to social inequalities are related to modifiable health and lifestyle factors for dementia.
“This suggests that lifestyle interventions could mitigate societal inequities in cognitive performance,” adds Professor Steffi Riedel-Heller, Director of ISAP.
However, according to the researchers, health and lifestyle factors only explain to a small extent the differences in mental performance due to socioeconomic factors. Therefore, the study findings also suggest that the greatest emphasis may be on the social conditions themselves.
“Policy measures aimed at reducing social inequalities could therefore make a significant contribution to reducing the risk of dementia,” says Dr. Röhr.
About this lifestyle and dementia research news
Author: press office
Fountain: university of leipzig
Contact: Press Office – University of Leipzig
Image: The image is in the public domain.
See also
original research: closed access.
“Socioeconomic disparities in cognitive functioning only to a small extent attributable to modifiable health and lifestyle factors in individuals without dementia” by Susanne Röhr et al. Journal of Alzheimer’s disease
Abstract
Socioeconomic disparities in cognitive functioning only to a small extent attributable to modifiable health and lifestyle factors in individuals without dementia
Background: There are socioeconomic inequalities in dementia risk. The underlying pathways are not well known. Objective: To investigate whether modifiable health and lifestyle factors for brain health mediate the association of socioeconomic status (SES) and cognitive functioning in a population without dementia.
Methods: The LIfestyle for BRAin health (LIBRA) score was calculated for 6203 baseline participants from the LIFE-Adult study. LIBRA predicts dementia in midlife and early life, based on 12 modifiable factors. Associations of SES (education, equivalency net income, and occupational status) and LIBRA with cognitive functioning (composite score) were investigated using fitted linear regression models. Structural equation modeling (SEM) with bootstrap was used to investigate whether LIBRA mediated the association of SES and cognitive functioning.
Results: Participants were M = 57.4 (SD = 10.6, range: 40-79) years; 50.3% were women. Both SES (Wald: F(2)=52.5, p < 0.001) and LIBRA (Wald: F(1)=5.9, p < 0.05) were independently associated with cognitive functioning; there was no interaction (Wald: F(2)=2.9, p = 0.060). Lower SES and higher LIBRA scores indicated lower cognitive functioning. LIBRA partially mediated the association of SES and cognitive functioning (IE: =0.02, 95% CI [0.02, 0.03], p < 0.001). The mediated proportion was 12.7%.
Conclusion: Differences in cognitive functioning due to SES may be partially attributed to differences in modifiable health and lifestyle factors; but to a small extent. This suggests that lifestyle interventions could attenuate socioeconomic inequities in cognitive functioning. However, intervening directly on the social determinants of health may generate greater benefits in reducing the risk of dementia.
Source: news.google.com