Healthy lifestyle halves risk of dementia in people with type 2 diabetes: Research

People with type 2 diabetes (T2D) have a decreased risk of acquiring dementia when they live a healthy lifestyle, according to study presented at the annual conference of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) in Stockholm, Sweden.

According to the study, persons with T2D who live unhealthy lifestyles are far more likely to develop dementia than those who live healthy lifestyles but do not have the disorder. A healthy lifestyle, on the other hand, reduces the risk of dementia in those with T2D by half.

It is well known that T2D and an unhealthy lifestyle both increase the risk of dementia. However, it is unclear if leading a healthy lifestyle can lower the risk of dementia in those with T2D.

Ms. Jirapitcha Boonpor, Dr. Carlos Celis-Morales, of the University of Glasgow, and associates monitored over 450,000 participants in the UK Biobank study for the onset of dementia in an effort to learn more.

The average age of the 445,364 participants (54.6% of whom were women) was 55.6 years, and they were followed up for a median of 9.1 years. All were free of dementia at the start of this period.

25,535 people (24,735) said they had T2D at the beginning of the study.

Participants responded to a questionnaire that inquired about their habits with regard to watching television, getting enough sleep, exercising, drinking alcohol, smoking, and eating processed and red meat, fruits, vegetables, and oily fish. They were divided into three categories based on their responses: the most healthy, the fairly healthy, and the least healthy.

Dementia risk increased in tandem with both T2D and an unhealthy lifestyle. Dementia was 33% more likely to occur in people with T2D than in people without T2D.

Dementia was significantly more closely linked to an unhealthy lifestyle. The participants with the least healthy lifestyles were 65% more likely to develop dementia than those with the healthiest lifestyle.

A healthy lifestyle appears to lower the risk of dementia in people with T2D, according to further studies.

Healthy lifestyle lowers dementia risk

Diabetes patients with the healthy lifestyles had a 45% lower risk of dementia than diabetes patients with the unhealthy lifestyles.

The study’s authors come to the conclusion that a healthy lifestyle can lessen the impact of T2D on dementia risk.

According to Dr. Celis-Morales, following current food, exercise, and sleep recommendations is essential for optimal health and may help reduce the incidence of dementia among diabetics.

We’ve shown that following these healthy lifestyle recommendations significantly reduces the increased risk of dementia that people with diabetes experience.

Ms. Boonpor explains that while there is no known treatment for dementia, prevention is critical.

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