Exercising and Quitting Smoking in Middle Age to Boost Heart Health Lowers the Risk of Dementia, Study Claims

A study in PLOS Medicine suggests that a healthy heart in middle age reduces the risk of dementia in later years, reports the Daily Mail . The researchers investigated 1,449 people as part of a long-term study begun in 1972 in Finland, confirming earlier theories that modifiable habits like exercise and quitting smoking can benefit brain health in old age. Participants with intermediate or ideal cardiovascular health (CVH) scores from midlife onwards, especially for behavioral factors, had a lower dementia risk later in life than participants with poor scores. There also was no significant overall association between heart health scores measured in late life and dementia risk. "We observed that having the ideal CVH metrics, and ideal behavioral CVH metrics in particular, from midlife onwards is associated with a reduced risk of dementia as compared with people having poor CVH metrics," said Karolinska Institutet Professor Yajun Liang. Yet when biological factors were under consideration, ideal scores in late life were associated with greater risk of dementia. This may be because some biological signs of dementia might overlap with ideal scores on these factors, like lower blood pressure and cholesterol.