Dementia: mental degradation can really be slowed down
Jens Richter is editor-in-chief at Since July 2020, the doctor and journalist has also been responsible as COO for business operations and the strategic development of
More posts by Jens Richter All content is checked by medical journalists.
Many people fear getting older mainly because they are worried about mental deterioration. But this can actually be stopped, shows a large Finnish-Swedish study - through a combination of healthy nutrition, physical and mental training.
Numerous studies have already shown a connection between individual lifestyle factors and the risk of dementia. But these were always epidemiological studies. All that is done is to statistically evaluate the health data and information provided by participants in retrospect. Most of the time, you only concentrate on individual aspects.
Realistic investigation
So-called controlled intervention studies are more valuable. In the so-called FINGER study, scientists from Finland and Sweden have been investigating since 2009 how active lifestyle changes affect the risk of dementia. The first interim results after two years give hope, but the study is still ongoing.
More than 1,200 seniors between 60 and 77 years of age take part in the study, many of whom bring at least one known risk factor for dementia with them - for example high blood pressure, high cholesterol levels (two thirds of the test subjects each) or diabetes (13 percent). One in ten had already suffered a so-called cardiovascular event, such as a stroke or heart attack, before the start of the study. This makes the test group a very realistic image of the elderly in today's industrialized nations.
Improvement by four factors
Before the start of the study, the researchers certified that all test subjects had an average or slightly below average mental performance, none of them had dementia. They divided the test persons into two groups: while half of them only received information material on a healthy lifestyle and general advice on risk factors for dementia at the beginning, the other half received intensive training in their preventive behavior.
The lessons consisted of four modules: healthy nutrition, physical training, brain performance training and the reduction of cardiovascular risk factors, i.e. the optimization of drug treatment for high blood pressure and co .. In the nutrition module, the participants were encouraged to eat more fruits and vegetables and less Eating sugar and relying more on polyunsaturated and omega-3 fatty acids for fat. The athletic training included endurance and strength training several times a week, the test subjects trained their mental performance with a specially developed, approx. 15-minute computer program - also several times a week.
Brain performance measurably increased after two years
After two years, the subjects' mental performance was measured and compared with the values at the start of the study. To do this, the researchers used extensive, standardized neuropsychological test procedures. The results are now available: Interestingly, both groups of test subjects showed an improvement in their average cognitive performance, even if they had not received any intensive training. For example, the participants' memory performance increased by an average of around ten percent.
In the training group, however, the test results were significantly better overall. Above all, strategic action, attention control and impulse control (in summary 83 percent better than the control group) and information processing (around 150 percent better) were shown to be significantly increased. In addition, fewer participants in this group deteriorated mentally.
After only two years of observation, the improvements are still small in absolute terms. The next study of the test subjects could show what potential there actually is in a complex change in lifestyle. It is planned for 2016.
Source: M. Kivipelto et al .: "A 2 year multidomain intervention of diet, exercise, cognitive training, and vascular risk monitoring versus control to prevent cognitive decline in at-risk elderly people (FINGER): a randomized controlled trial", The Lancet, March 2015, DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0140-673660461-5
Tags: skin tcm laboratory values
