Healthy Living Tied to a Longer Life and Dementia-Free Old Age
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A healthy diet, physical activity, and cognitive training help extend life expectancy — and those extra years are more likely to be dementia-free — new research suggests. An analysis of nearly 2500 participants in the Chicago Health and Aging Project (CHAP) showed those who had a healthy diet, got plenty of physical activity, and participated in cognitive exercises lived longer than those following a less healthy lifestyle. In addition, the number of years living with dementia was almost halved among participants with the healthiest lifestyle versus those with the least healthy lifestyle.
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@dhara Past research has shown adhering to a healthy lifestyle may extend life expectancy, but older age is associated with a higher risk of dementia. What hasn't been clear is whether extending life just increases the number of years spent with dementia, the current investigators note. The new study was created to address that question, they add. It used data from 2449 participants (mean age, 76 years) in CHAP, a population-based study that began in 1993 and was designed to assess risk factors of Alzheimer's dementia in the general population. Researchers obtained data on lifestyle factors, medical history, genotyping, and neurocognitive tests through detailed questionnaires and biospecimen collection. The neurocognitive tests were administered every 3 years up to six times throughout the study.