FIVE HEALTHY LIFESTYLE BEHAVIOURS have been found to be associated with a LOWER RISK OF ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE. A recently published study confirms previous evidence that the risk of Alzheimer’s disease is reduced in people who follow some or all of 5 ‘healthy lifestyle’ behaviours: (a) not smoking (b) 150 minutes or more per week of moderate/vigorous-intensity physical activity (c) light to moderate alcohol consumption (d) a MIND diet (see below) and (e) engagement in late-life cognitive activities. https://n.neurology.org/content/early/2020/06/16/WNL.0000000000009816
The MIND diet, developed by Prof. Martha Morris combines aspects of a Mediterranean Diet and DASH (a diet developed to reduce risk of hypertension and heart disease). MIND stands for Mediterranean-DASH diet Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay. A nice summary of the MIND diet can be seen on https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/mind-diet#section2
Although this study looked at Alzheimer’s disease, it is likely the observations would apply to other forms of dementia, particularly Vascular Dementia.
The associations of reduced risk associated with these factors were independent of other established risk factors for Alzheimer’s dementia such as the presence in individuals of the APOE e4 allele (gene).
It is possible that ‘reverse causality’ may explain the association of some of these observations. For instance, many people with early Alzheimer’s disease show lack of interest and initiative due to the Alzheimer brain changes. As a result they may be less engaged in physical and cognitive activity before it is obvious that they have Alzheimer’s disease. Association doesn’t prove causation.