Healthy living can counteract dementia risk

Leading a healthy lifestyle may reduce risk for dementia, even among people genetically predisposed to the condition, new research suggests. British scientists examined nearly 200,000 people, all age 60 or older and with no signs or symptoms of dementia at the start of the study. Participants were each given a “polygenic risk score” that estimated their genetic risk for dementia, and a “healthy lifestyle score” factoring in things like alcohol consumption and exercise. Study subjects were tracked for about eight years, during which those with the worst lifestyle score and the highest genetic risk were three times more likely to develop dementia than the healthiest participants with the lowest genetic risk. But among those with high-risk genes, participants who led a healthy lifestyle—eating well and exercising regularly, for example—were 32 percent less likely to develop dementia than those with bad habits. Researchers say the study should give hope to people who are told they are genetically predisposed to dementia. It “undermines a fatalistic view of dementia,” senior author David Llewellyn, from the University of Exeter in England, tells ScienceDaily.com. “Some people believe it’s inevitable they’ll develop [the condition] because of their genetics. However, it appears that you may be able to substantially reduce your dementia risk by living a healthy lifestyle.”

Getty, AP, Katerina Harvati/University of Tübingen ■