Adopting a balanced diet, physical activity, and green tea extract can lower your chance of getting dementia

The PENSA study, published in The Journal of Prevention of Alzheimer's Disease, has revealed promising results in the fight against dementia. The study, which ran from 2009 to 2015, involved 129 cognitively healthy individuals aged 60-80 with a high risk of developing Alzheimer's disease.

Participants were divided into three groups. One underwent a multimodal lifestyle intervention, including healthy eating guidelines of the Mediterranean diet type, physical exercise, and cognitive stimulation. Another took a placebo instead of the green tea compound, epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), while the third, the control group, only received recommendations on healthy lifestyle habits at the beginning of the study.

The study found that participants who received EGCG showed a 50% greater improvement in cognition compared to those who received a placebo. Moreover, those who completed the full intervention program, including the green tea component, improved their cognition up to 4.5 times more. The risk of developing dementia for these individuals was reduced by approximately 25%.

Global cognitive improvement was observed in 48% of participants who received the lifestyle intervention and EGCG, compared to 27% of participants who followed the same regimen but with a placebo. The effects on cognition were more sustained in those who followed the regimen and had taken EGCG, even three months after the end of the trial.

The results demonstrate a significant improvement in cognition in both the intervention groups. The study's findings suggest that scientists should consider a personalized approach to lifestyle interventions targeting cognitively healthy individuals at higher risk of developing Alzheimer's disease.

The study concludes that a personalized, adaptive multimodal intervention is a viable and effective treatment for preventing cognitive decline in individuals at higher risk of developing Alzheimer's disease. It also highlights the potential synergistic effects between different components of lifestyle interventions and dietary supplements or pharmacological approaches, aiming to enhance intervention efficacy.

The source of this information is EFE / ECOticias.com. The PENSA study is one of the first in the world to demonstrate that the combination of multimodal interventions with cognition-enhancing compounds has additive effects. It offers hope for those at risk of dementia and emphasizes the importance of preventive approaches, such as lifestyle interventions targeting multiple risk factors for Alzheimer's disease and dementia.

Adopting a balanced diet, physical activity, and green tea extract can lower your chance of getting dementia