The researchers, led by Assistant Professor Christian Dana of the Department of Medicine at Rush University in Chicago and published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ), analysed data on 2,449 people over 65 (average age 76) with no history of dementia. For each person, a healthy lifestyle score was calculated based on detailed questionnaires about their diet, physical activity, smoking, alcohol consumption and other mind-activating activities (reading, crossword puzzles, visits to museums, etc.).It was found that at the age of 65, life expectancy was on average 24.2 years for women and 23.1 years for men who led the healthiest lives and had the highest "score". In contrast, for the women and men with the worst scores due to their unhealthiest lifestyle the remaining life expectancy was considerably shorter, 21.1 and 17.4 years respectively.
For women and men with very healthy lifestyles, on average 10.8% (2.6 years) and 6.1% (1.4 years) respectively of the remaining years of their lives had to live with Alzheimer's disease, compared with a longer period of 19.3% (4.1 years) and 12% (2.1 years) for people with unhealthy lifestyles. At age 85, the "gap" between those leading healthy and unhealthy lives was even wider in terms of how much of their remaining life they would have to live with Alzheimer's.
The number of people with Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia worldwide is expected to triple by 2050, from about 57 million in 2019 to 152 million. The older the age, the higher the risk of Alzheimer's increases. A healthy lifestyle may slow down the onset of dementia, but on the other hand it could also increase the years lived with Alzheimer's. It seems, however, according to the researchers, that "the expectation of a longer life, thanks to a healthy lifestyle, is not accompanied by an increased number of years of life with Alzheimer's."
Source: Cyprus Times
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