There is a scientific formula to slow downaging of brain cells and try to contain the effects of a phenomenon that often leads to a sharp decline in memory and, sometimes, to dementia? According to a new survey there is something very close: six specific habits that can give us a hand certainly not in the goal of “eternal life”, unattainable except in films and novels, but of a better old age.
The investigation, carried out in China on 29 thousand elderly people (10,000 of whom have however abandoned over time or have died), just published on British Medical Journal and also reported by Washington Posthas precisely verified the benefits of habits such as regular reading or socializing, which help to grow old while protecting the quality of life.
The 6 “golden” habits
It is, specifically and above all, thephysical exercise: You should do at least 150 minutes of moderate activity or 75 minutes of more vigorous activity per week. Then there is the diet: according to the survey you need to eat adequate daily amounts of at least seven of the following 12 foods: fruits, vegetables, fish, meat, dairy products, salt, oil, eggs, cereals, legumes, nuts and tea. Of course, nothing is said about the quality, which makes this point a bit weak.
call foralcohol (at most you can drink occasionally) and of course even to smoke. But it’s also crucial to carry out cognitive activities of various kinds. At least twice a week you need to to read, play cards or engage in others hobbies of a certain level. Finally it is important the social contactwhose centrality several other studies had underlined: in fact, it is necessary to engage with others at least twice a week (participating in meetings of the community in which one lives or seeing friends or relatives).
Such an impressive study, conducted to boot over ten years, on subjects over 60 by monitoring their conditions over time, adds substantial evidence in favor of a healthy and balanced lifestyle and its effects on cellular ageing. On the other hand, the direct links “between dementia and factors such as social isolation and obesity” have been known for some time. Dementia, in this case, means a severe deterioration in cognitive function beyond the normal effects of aging.
The starting points of the investigation were the basic memory test and that for the gene APOEε4which encodes for apolipoprotein E and is considered a risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease, through which the most important factors listed above have been isolated and divided the participants into three groups according to the adoption of habits. Indeed, the study suggests that the effects of a healthy lifestyle are also positive for people who are genetically more susceptible to memory decline, precisely the millions of individuals who carry the APOEε4 gene.
During the study, Chinese researchers found that people in the favorable group (i.e. accustomed to following four to six factors considered positive) and in the middle group (two to three) they sported a rate of memory decline slower over time than people with unfavorable lifestyles (from zero to one factor). People who assumed good lifestyles (with at least four habits considered healthy) were also less likely to progress to mild cognitive impairment and dementia.
Some of the results of the study, notes the Washington Post citing some experts, they differ from the results of other large surveys conducted for example in the United States and Europe. For example, the newly released study points out that the lifestyle factor with the greatest effect on reducing memory decline is a balanced diet, while other studies have previously suggested that diet is less important in old age than exercise. and mental.
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