Study links lifestyle to rate of memory decline

Memory loss is a common part of aging.

A decade-long study of older adults in China has found that a healthy lifestyle is linked to slower memory decline even when people carry a risky gene for Alzheimer's.

Researchers from China's National Center for Neurological Disorders and other medical institutes followed 29,000 people aged at least 60 years with normal cognitive abilities for up to 10 years. Forty-nine percent of the participants were women.

At the beginning of the study in 2009, the researchers tested the participants' memory function with the Auditory Verbal Learning Test.

They were also tested for the APOE gene, the most common gene linked with Alzheimer's. Around 20 percent of the participants were carriers of the risk gene.

The participants received assessments in 2012, 2014, 2016 and 2019.

In the follow-ups, six healthy lifestyle factors were analyzed: a healthy diet (adherence to recommended food items), regular physical exercise (at least 150 minutes of moderate intensity or 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity exercises per week), active social contact (for example, seeing friends and family at least twice a week), active cognitive activity (for example, reading, writing, playing chess at least twice a week), non-smoking and never drinking alcohol.

The results showed that the mean AVLT scores continuously declined over the 10 years.

The highest test scores were in the favorable group and the lowest in the unfavorable group.

The participants with favorable and average lifestyles, even when they were APOE carriers, had a slower rate of memory decline than the participants with unfavorable lifestyles.

Meanwhile, the results also showed that a favorable lifestyle was associated with a 90 percent lower probability of progression to mild cognitive impairment and dementia. The number for the average group was 30 percent.

The researchers said that they studied the contribution of each lifestyle factor and their combined effects in a large sample size over an entire decade and offered important information to protect older adults against memory decline.

The results about the APOE carriers also provide an optimistic outlook that healthy lifestyle risks are associated with a slower rate of memory decline, regardless of the genetic risk.

历时十年！科学家发现这6种生活方式可减缓记忆衰退

记忆力衰退是老年人的通病。

一项持续进行了10年的对中国老年人跟踪调查研究显示，即使携带有阿尔茨海默氏症的危险基因，健康的生活方式与较慢的记忆力衰退相关。

来自中国国家神经疾病医学中心和其他医疗机构的研究人员对2.9万名60岁以上且认知能力正常的老年人进行了长达十年随访，研究对象中49%是女性。

2009年研究开始时，研究人员使用听觉词语学习测验（AVLT）来测试研究对象的记忆功能。

同时，他们还对研究对象体内最常见的与阿尔茨海默病有关的载脂蛋白E（apolipoprotein E, APOE）基因进行了检验，发现其中20%是携带者。

研究人员分别在2012、2014、2016和2019年对研究对象进行了随访评估。

他们把六种健康生活特征纳入了研究中。它们分别是：健康的饮食（遵守食品推荐摄入量）、定期的体育锻炼（每周150分钟及以上的中等强度运动或75分钟及以上的剧烈运动）、频繁的社交活动（每周两次及以上看望朋友、家人等）、积极的认知活动（每周两次及以上读书、写作、下棋等）、不抽烟、从不喝酒。

测验结果显示，每个研究对象的听觉词语学习测验成绩在10年内持续下滑。

但是，良好生活方式组分数下降得最为平缓，不良生活方式组测验分数最低。

良好和一般生活方式组中APOE基因携带者的记忆力下降速度也低于不良生活方式组。

与此同时，研究结果还表明，良好生活方式组与患轻度认知障碍和痴呆症的可能性低近90%有关，一般生活方式组的数字是30%。

研究人员说，他们在整整十年的大样本中研究了每种生活方式因素的贡献，以及它们的综合影响，为保护老年人免受记忆力衰退提供了重要信息。

此项研究也给APOE基因的携带者也提供了一个乐观的前景，即，无论遗传风险如何，健康的生活方式与记忆力衰退速度放缓有关。