Research presented this week may just hold the key to dementia prevention going forward. It covered a multi-pronged approach to preventing the condition.
This study was called the “Alzheimer’s Association U.S. Study to Protect Brain Health Through Lifestyle Intervention to Reduce Risk” or U.S. POINTER study, according to the Alzheimer’s Association. Over two years, 2,111 people participated in the clinical trial, all older adults at risk for cognitive decline and dementia.
Findings were presented at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference in Toronto and published in the Journal of the American Medical Association Monday.
Study authors described their prevention method as “multidomain lifestyle interventions” that included “regular moderate- to high-intensity physical exercise adherence to the MIND diet, cognitive challenge and social engagement, and cardiovascular health monitoring,” compared to “lower-intensity self-guided intervention.”
Participants who were treated with structured lifestyle intervention attended 38 facilitated peer team meetings, were provided with a prescribed activity program with measurable goals for exercise, diet, intellectual activities, social activities, and had a regular review of health metrics and goal setting with a clinician. Those who were treated with self-guided lifestyle intervention “attended six peer team meetings to encourage self-selected lifestyle changes that best fit their needs and schedules,” and encouragement that did not involve goal-directed coaching.
Those who had structured lifestyle intervention had “statistically significant greater improvement in global cognition over the course of the study, its authors said. They added that “further research is needed to understand clinical significance and longer-term cognitive effects of both interventions.”
“The potential to improve cognition with fewer resources and lower participant burden is compelling. It highlights that while not everyone has the same access or ability to adhere to more intensive behavior interventions, even modest changes may protect the brain,” said Dr. Laura D. Baker, a professor of gerontology, geriatrics and internal medicine at Wake Forest University School of Medicine and Advocate Health and principal investigator for U.S. POINTER.
“These are the initial results,” Baker said. “Over the coming weeks and months, study leadership will be exploring all of the data collected in the trial to paint an even more comprehensive picture of the U.S.
POINTER intervention effects on brain health.”
In the U.S. alone an estimated 7 million people are living with Alzheimer’s dementia, per the latest Alzheimer’s Association report. That condition is the most common cause of dementia in the country and research has revealed it is linked to plaques and tangles in the brain. There is currently no treatment for the condition, so prevention is important. Audacy has also reported on the link between glucose and Alzheimer’s.
With the U.S. POINTER data available, the Alzheimer’s Association said it plans to launch several programs and initiatives to build on its momentum. These include: a personal brain health assessment tool, a virtual brain health training program for health care providers, a community recognition program for organizations championing brain health and a brain health roundtable that will unite leaders across health care, public health, community and corporate sectors.
“Our findings have tremendous implications for older adults: It is never too late to make lifestyle changes that can have measurable impact on one’s brain health,” said Jeffrey Katula, McDonough Family Faculty Fellow in the Wake Forest Department of Health and Exercise Science, who worked to design and implement the intervention.