It’s Official—Dementia Is Not Your Destiny

Finally, a gold-standard clinical trial that produced a stunning—if intuitive—conclusion: dementia is not our destiny.

The trial, reported in the April 2017 issue of Scientific American, followed participants for two years; the participants consisted of 631 men and women aged 60-77 in the intervention group and 629 in the control group. All participants were chosen on the basis of their status as individuals with “elevated risk for cognitive decline” due to genetics or cardiovascular health. Some had already begun to show signs of cognitive decline.

Bottom Line Results

Many participants, even those in the control group, clocked at least moderate gains in cognition—which just goes to show how a little attention from others (or taking the time to participate in something) can improve our lives even when all else stays equal. However, it’s the intervention group you’ll want to pay attention to. As I said, the results are stunning:

• 83% improvement over the control group in executive functions (these are biggies like attentional control, inhibitory control, working memory, cognitive flexibility, reasoning, problem solving, and planning)

• 150% better score in mental processing speed (processing, judging, and responding to new information)

• 40% performance increase in complex mental tasks (say, like remembering long lists—I’m guessing that committing poetry counts)

• Intervention group participants with the Alzheimer’s gene displayed a slower rate of cellular aging

The Secret of Skirting “Dementia Destiny”

While the results of the study are interesting to read in full, it’s the high points of the interventions that you’ll want to quickly apply to your life, or the life of anyone for whom you might be providing eldercare. The broad categories of intervention were: nutrition, cognitive training, exercise, and social life. Here are some details:

• Mediterranean diet (that’s an exotic way to say mostly-vegetarian, plus two fish meals a week)
• Vitamin D supplement
• 2-3 gym sessions of 60 minutes per week (including muscle strength training, aerobics, postural balance)
• Cognitive training, 2-3 times a week for 15 minutes

The Conclusion Is

“…a combination of improved diet, physical exercise, mental and social stimulation, and management of cardiovascular problems can improve cognition even after age 60.”

Now, get thee to a dance (or a book club) with friends. And bring along a few clementines. 🙂