Eating two-and-a-half chicken breasts a day from midlife can significantly reduce the risk of dementia, a disease that steals memory, experts have warned.
Getting enough protein is one of the ‘four pillars’ identified by researchers in a new report, including exercise, managing long-term health conditions and strong social connections with friends and family.
These factors are important because they help an elderly person avoid frailty, a recent Australian study found that dementia can be predicted ten years before diagnosis.
Frailty is a medical term for people who struggle to recover from common health problems, such as a bad cold or injury, often due to age-related causes.
This means that even a relatively minor fall or infection can be serious, leaving frail adults more likely to become disabled or require hospitalization or long-term care.
In a recent study, from The University of QueenslandScientists have found that people with dementia show signs of frailty four to nine years before the onset of cognitive symptoms.
Analyzing data from four studies of 30,000 Britons and Americans, the authors found frailty increased the risk of later developing dementia by 18 and 73 percent, respectively.
Queensland health researcher David Ward, one of the authors of the study, said. Medscape‘We found that for every four to five additional health problems, there was an average 40 per cent increased risk of dementia.’
In a recent study, led by experts at the University of Queensland, scientists found that dementia increased among people four to nine years before they were diagnosed. Stock image
But the researchers published their findings in the journal JEMA NeurologyThis is good news, he said.
This is because frailty can be prevented or delayed, and if the link between the disorder and dementia is true, people may be less likely to develop dementia.
Mr Ward suggests following what he calls ‘four pillars of frailty prevention and management’.
The first was a healthy diet full of muscle-building protein.
NHS Advice says older Brits should eat between 1 and 1.5g of protein per kilogram of body weight per day to prevent age-related muscle damage.
Examples of good sources of protein include 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 jogging or swimming.
This is in addition to doing muscle-strengthening activities like weight lifting or yoga twice a week.
Inability to learn new tasks and struggle to concentrate on one task can be a sign of dementia.
The third pillar involves checking chronic health conditions, which include long-term chronic diseases such as heart disease, Diabetes And arthritis, adequately treated with medication.
The last pillar is maintaining social relationships. Such links may be with friends, family or the wider community.
Social connections not only increase mental health and well-being, but also help you stay active, such as 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 necessarily mean frailty causes the disease.
Rather, it may be a biological warning sign of a vulnerable individual.
One of the key limitations of the study was that the authors were unable to take into account some of the known risk factors for dementia, such as genetic links.
The NHS has long advised people to eat healthy and watch their weight, with high blood pressure linked to increased risk of dementia with poor diet and obesity linked to dementia.
People are advised to avoid drinking and smoking for the same reasons.
