Living a healthy lifestyle plays a major part in staving off dementia, according to the findings of a major project in Wales reported yesterday.
Researchers found that people who complied with four out of five aspects of a healthy lifestyle enjoyed a 60% reduced risk of developing dementia.
The five aspects are regular exercise, not smoking, a healthy diet, low alcohol consumption and keeping a low bodyweight.
Researchers said those living a healthy lifestyle also enjoyed a 70% reduced risk of developing diabetes, heart disease and stroke.
The findings come from a 35-year project in the town of Caerphilly involving some 2,235 men, who were middle-aged at the start of the research.
The research has been published in PLoS One.
Researcher Professor Peter Elwood, of Cardiff University medical school, said: "The size of reduction in the instance of disease owing to these simple healthy steps has really amazed us and is of enormous importance in an aging population.
"What the research shows is that following a healthy lifestyle confers surprisingly large benefits to health – healthy behaviours have a far more beneficial effect than any medical treatment or preventative procedure."
He added: "Sadly, the evidence from this study shows that very few people follow a fully healthy lifestyle.
"Furthermore, our findings reveal that while the number of people who smoke has gone down since the study started, the number of people leading a fully healthy lifestyle has not changed."
Dr Doug Brown, of the Alzheimer’s Society, welcomed the findings.
He said: "We have known for some time that what is good for your heart is also good for your head, and this study provides more evidence to show that healthy living could significantly reduce the chances of developing dementia.
"These large, longitudinal studies are expensive and complicated to run, but are essential to understand how dementia can be prevented."
Christopher Allen, of the British Heart Foundation, added: "The results of this study overwhelmingly support the notion that adopting a healthy lifestyle reduces your risk of cardiovascular disease and dementia.
"These findings will hopefully go a long way in encouraging people to carefully consider their lifestyle and how it will impact on their health in later years."
PLoS One 9 December 2013; doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0081877 [abstract]
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