Diabetes Type 2 and Dementia: Adopting These 7 Habits May Lower Risk for Individuals
Rewritten Article:
Type 2 diabetes might up the risk for dementia, but gotta stay chill, mate! Researchers are still trying to figure out how our daily habits can influence dementia's sneaky approach. Data from a recent banger in Neurology reveals that people with type two diabetes can steer clear of dementia if they partake in some badass lifestyle choices.
Dementia and its spicy risks
Dementia, the catch-all term for yucky brain disorders, gets progressively worse, messing up our memories, thinking, and reasoning abilities. And it ain't a walk in the park, interferin' with our everyday lives and independence.
While you can't change some risk factors like age and family history, others are in our control. Smokin', obesity, boozin', and other unhealthy habits lead to Alzheimer's and related dementias. Type 2 diabetes is also linked to dementia, but keeping a close eye on your health with your doc can help manage it. The question is, can healthy lifestyle adjustments reduce dementia risk?
Type 2 diabetes, dementia, and hype habits
So,the research wizards delved into how seven sizzling lifestyle habits affected dementia risk. They checked out both diabetes patients and healthy folks. Here are the badass habits they focused on:
- Axing the smokes
- Chillin' with a bit o' booze
- Gettin' physical
- Fuelin' up on healthy grub
- Snoozin' tight
- Cutting down on couch potato time
- Keepin' social bonds tight
The data collection for this research was all about the U.K. Biobank, gatherin' participants aged 60 and up who started the study dementia-free. They excluded peeps with type one diabetes to have a clear focus on type two.
The researchers came up with a healthy lifestyle score based on these badass habits. Each category had specific criteria for what they considered healthy. For example, someone was labeled as "gettin' physical" if they clocked in at least 150 minutes a week of moderate exercise or 75 minutes a week of intense exercise.
The research included over 160,000 participants, with more than 12,000 havin' diabetes. The team followed these badasses for 12 years, to see if their hype habits affected dementia development. They found that healthy lifestyle habits were associated with a decreased risk of dementia. But this reduction was even more significant for the diabetes crowd.
Study author, the one and only Dr. Yingli Lu, Ph.D., of Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine in China, shared with Medical News Today: "Our findings illuminate that while patients with diabetes are more prone to dementia, adhering to a kick-ass lifestyle can drastically reduce this risk."
Non-study author and Alzheimer’s researcher, Dr. Jeroen Mahieu, Ph.D., also weighed in with MNT: "The most crucial tidbit from this study is that stickin' to a healthy lifestyle massively decreases the risk of dementia for diabetes patients; more than for those without diabetes. This is crucial given dementia's prevalence among diabetes patients. However, we should exercise caution while interpreting these effects as causal."
Study limitations and more research needed
The swanky-sounding research suggests that adoptin' some badass habits could decrease dementia risk, particularly for peeps with diabetes. But this research also had a few tight spots:
- For starters, participants self-reported their lifestyle behaviors, which might have led to data errors.
- Second, the team collected lifestyle factor data at the start of the study but didn’t get data on changes in lifestyle factors. They also missed out on info about lifestyle factors before diabetes developed.
- The team admitted that they might have had to chuck out participants based on missing data, who may have had lower education and socioeconomic status, thus impacting the results. There was also a risk of misclassifying participants with diabetes or prediabetes as not havin' diabetes.
- Although they adjusted for several confounding factors like medications, there might still be unknown or unmeasured factors they missed out on. The study also had mainly Caucasian participants, so future research with more diverse groups is needed.
- Nevertheless, the research points to the importance of lifestyle adjustments during the long prodromal period of cognitive decline, where interventions like increased exercise could provide cognitive benefits and delay or prevent dementia symptoms. Dr. Lu stated to MNT: "Our data may have essential implications for doctors and other medical professionals who treat people with diabetes. They should seriously consider suggesting lifestyle changes to their patients. Such changes could boost overall health and contribute to the prevention or delayed onset of dementia in individuals with diabetes. Future research is required to determine how combined healthy lifestyle behaviors contribute to cognitive outcomes in diabetes and the possible mechanisms."
In essence, people with type 2 diabetes can lower their dementia risk by adopting badass habits like a healthy diet, regular physical activity, stress and sleep management, and maintaining social engagement. These factors together offer better metabolic control and put the brakes on dementia[2][1]. It's crucial to focus on these habits during the prodromal period of cognitive decline, as physical activity has shown cognitive benefits and can delay or prevent dementia symptoms[5].
- The study in Neurology suggests that people with type 2 diabetes can possibly avoid dementia by adopting healthy lifestyle choices.
- Dementia, a term for brain disorders that affect memory, thinking, and reasoning, can be progressive and devastating to everyday life.
- Some risk factors for dementia, such as age and family history, cannot be changed, but others, like unhealthy habits, are controllable.
- A research focusing on seven habits found that healthy lifestyle adjustments might decrease dementia risk, particularly for people with type 2 diabetes.
- These habits include regular physical activity, a balanced diet, adequate sleep, limited alcohol consumption, smoking cessation, and maintaining social connections.
- The study demonstrated that adhering to a healthy lifestyle can significantly reduce the risk of dementia for people with type 2 diabetes.
- However, the findings should be interpreted with caution, as they don't establish a causal relationship between healthy habits and decreased dementia risk.
- The study highlights the importance of health and wellness, fitness and exercise, and mental health therapies and treatments to manage chronic diseases like diabetes and potentially reduce the risk of dementia.
