Eating two and a half chicken breasts a day from middle age could dramatically reduce the risk of developing the memory-robbing disease dementia, experts have highlighted.
Getting enough protein is one of the ‘four pillars’ of prevention that researchers have identified in a new report. This also includes exercise, treating long-term health problems and maintaining strong social ties with friends and family.
These factors are critical because they help an older person avoid frailty, which Australian research recently found could predict whether you’ll develop dementia nearly a decade before you’re diagnosed.
Frailty is a medical term for people who, for often age-related reasons, have difficulty recovering from common health problems, such as a bad cold or an injury.
This means that even a relatively minor fall or infection can potentially become serious, with vulnerable adults at increased risk of becoming disabled, or requiring hospitalization or long-term care.
In a recent study led by experts from the University of Queensland, scientists found that people with a diagnosis of dementia showed signs of frailty four to nine years before their cognitive symptoms started to appear.
Analyzing data from four studies of 30,000 British and Americans, the authors found that frailty increased the risk of a subsequent diagnosis of dementia by 18 to 73 percent.
One of the study’s authors, David Ward, a health researcher from Queensland, said Medscape: ‘We discovered that for every four to five additional health problems, there is on average a 40 percent higher risk of developing dementia.’
In a recent study led by experts at the University of Queensland, scientists found that frailty increased in people about four to nine years before the diagnosis of dementia. Stock image
But the researchers, who published their findings in the journal JAMA Neurologydescribed this as potentially good news.
This is because frailty can be prevented or delayed, which, if the link between the condition and dementia is true, means people can also reduce their risk of dementia.
Mr Ward suggested adhering to what he called “four pillars of vulnerability prevention and management”.
The first was a healthy diet packed with muscle-building protein.
According to NHS advice, older Brits should consider eating 1 to 1.5g of protein per kilogram of body weight per day, partly to counteract the effects of aging on muscle.
Examples of good protein sources are beans, legumes, fish, eggs and lean cuts of meat, the health service advises.
The second pillar is to continue exercising.
Britons over 65 are told by the NHS to do 150 minutes of moderate activity every week, such as walking or cycling, or alternatively 75 minutes of vigorous exercise, such as running or swimming.
This is in addition to doing muscle-strengthening activities, such as weight lifting or yoga, twice a week.
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If you can’t learn new tasks and have trouble staying focused on one task, it could be a sign of dementia
The third pillar involves ensuring that chronic health problems, including long-term chronic diseases such as heart disease, diabetes and arthritis, are adequately treated with medicine.
The final pillar is maintaining social ties. Such ties may be with friends, family or the wider community.
Not only do social connections help improve mental health and wellbeing, they can also help you stay active, for example by joining a walking or gardening club.
While the new study isn’t the first to link frailty and dementia, experts caution that the data doesn’t mean frailty causes the disorder.
Instead, it could be a biological warning signal to a person in danger.
One of the main limitations of the study was that the authors could not take into account some of the known risk factors for dementia, such as genetic links.
The NHS has long advised people to eat healthily and watch their weight to reduce the risk of dementia with high blood pressure problems due to poor diet and obesity due to dementia.
People are also advised not to drink and smoke for similar reasons.