Poor Diet and Lack of Exercise Correlate with Risk of Cognitive Decline and Dementia

It is not surprising to find data showing that a poor diet and lack of exercise correlated with an increased risk of later neurodegeneration and dementia. Plenty of studies exist to note that correlation. The question is the degree to which it is correlation versus causation. There are good reasons to believe that regular exercise slows the onset of neurodegeneration, quite clear mechanistic links that are demonstrated to be causal in animal studies. Equally, a poor diet and lack of exercise correlate with many other potential contributing factors in human populations, not least of which is frailty and other manifestations of aging. So to what degree do these correlations in human data reflect protective effects versus the tendency of those who are most affected by aging, and therefore most likely to decline more rapidly, to eat poorly and exercise little? New research has found that both diet and exercise can influence the risk of cognitive decline (CD) and dementia by potentially influencing hippocampal neurogenesis long before their onset. The investigation studied how the blood of participants with and without CD and dementia could influence hippocampal neurogenesis in laboratory settings and whether diet and exercise were important factors. Specifically, blood samples of 418 French adults over the age of 65 were collected 12-years prior to CD and dementia diagnosis and tested on human hippocampal stem cells. Additionally, information on each participant's sociod...
Source: Fight Aging! - Category: Research Authors: Tags: Daily News Source Type: blogs