Hi everybody!
Although it seems obvious that healthy habits prevent from several disorders, I think it is interesting to find out evidence with clinical trials. That' s why I have chosen this article. After reading it, some questions came to my mind: Why is it so hard for most people to follow healthy habits, even knowing their benefits? Should the Government fund healthy diets and gym classes instead of drugs? Could a pill substitutes the whole benefit from healthy lifestyle?
You can give your opinion about those questions or comment anything else, it's up to you. Enjoy it ;)
Mental and physical exercises may protect against cognitive decline in the elderly
The intervention included muscle and cardiovascular training, mental exercises and advice on how to manage metabolic and vascular risk factors.
Earlier today, Medical News Today reported on the results of a study published in the journal Neurologythat suggested physical activity may protect seniors from the effects of brain damage on motor function.
That study, conducted by researchers at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, IL, found that the most active participants were unaffected by greater volumes of "white matter hyperintensities" - small areas of damage found in the brains of older people that are associated with impaired motor functioning.
In the study published in The Lancet, researchers from Sweden and Finland examined the effects on brain function of an intervention addressing assorted risk factors for age-related dementia.
These important risk factors included high body mass index (BMI) and heart health, and the intervention included healthy eating guidance, exercise, brain training and management of metabolic and vascular risk factors.
From across Finland, 1,260 participants aged between 60 and 77 were recruited for the study. Based on scores of standardized tests, all of the participants were considered to be at risk of dementia. Half were randomized into the intervention group and half formed a control group.
Intervention included regular meetings with health professionals over 2 years
Those in the intervention group participated in regular meetings over 2 years with health professionals, where participants were provided with "comprehensive advice" on maintaining a healthy diet, muscle and cardiovascular training, mental exercises and how to use blood tests and other means to manage metabolic and vascular risk factors.
At the conclusion of this 2-year study period, the researchers used the standardized Neuropsychological Test Battery to assess participants' mental function. They found that, overall, the intervention group scored an average of 25% higher on this test than the control group - a higher score corresponds to better mental functioning.
Breaking down the test's various components, the team also found that the intervention group scored 83% higher than the control group on ability to organize and regulate thought processes (executive functioning) and 150% higher on processing speed.
The participants will be followed for at least a further 7 years to establish whether the reduction in cognitive decline demonstrated by the intervention group is followed by a reduction in diagnoses of dementia and Alzheimer's disease.
"Much previous research has shown that there are links between cognitive decline in older people and factors such as diet, heart health and fitness," says lead author Prof. Miia Kivipelto, from the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, Sweden.
"However," Prof. Kivipelto adds, "our study is the first large randomized controlled trial to show that an intensive program aimed at addressing these risk factors might be able to prevent cognitive decline in elderly people who are at risk of dementia."
Last month, MNT looked at a study published in the journal Frontiers in Psychology that suggested meditation may reduce brain aging.
Written by David McNamee
Copyright: Medical News Today
Nisha Lal
Hi Nisha , thank you for your articulate, I loved it. We are what we eat. I think if we changed the eating habits many diseases would greatly reduce.
ResponderEliminarUnfortunately today we live in a completely industrialized world, people do not think about what they are buying when they go to the supermarket.
I think the government should invest in healthy diets and promote exercise. The vast majority of food available in large commercial superficieis are highly processed, full of refined sugars and this is very detrimental to the populace.
I think that a tablet can never prevent a healthy lifestyle is more important to prevent than cure.
It is important to alert people that our body needs nutrients, a food based on nutrient density and no superfluous food.
Joana Gonçalves
Hi Nisha! thanks for remember us the importance about healthy habits.
ResponderEliminarIn my opinion a healthy lifestyle is more effective for health than a wonderful pill, so I don't think a pill can replace 100% good habits, but it helps.
The sedentary lifestyle is rooted in our lives, new technologies, fast food, transports like car make us lazy and unhealthy. However, nowadays it exist a current which advocates for sports as running, Pilates, cycling... Young people are worried about their bodies and they go to the gym, but maybe some of them are obsessed and this isn't healthy either. In my opinion Government can help in this area, adapting locals to do sports class with other people, so it's useful to do sports and to meet others; plans to know good diets for example including healthy foods in attractive meals...
Drugs let Government get money by tax they must have other priorities for citizens.
I hope good habits will spread.
ANDREA GARCÍA GÓMEZ
Hi Nisha, thank you for your article, I think it’s a very interesting topic.
ResponderEliminarReferring to the difficulty for people to follow a healthy lifestyle I think that it is because the harmful practices are pleasant. Another reason could be the ignorance that certain practices are inappropriate and a third reason could be that the benefits of healthy habits require a long term commitment and are at first unnoticeable. In order to develop a new healthy habit one must be constant and warn everyone about it.
I think the same way as you, the government could invest more money on healthy diets and habits than on drugs, but it must not interest them due to the businesses they have with pharmaceutical companies.
Dunia Jové
Hi Nisha! I I have to say I liked very much your article, I, as a lover of a healthy lifestyle, am for everything I’ve read, and although it is sometimes difficult to follow healthy habits of life, we have to try to be part of our life in order to live longer and in better condition.
ResponderEliminarWhy is it so hard for most people to follow healthy habits, even knowing their benefits?
This is a very good question; I ask me the same every day! I don't know, probably because our brain is prepared to say us: eat, eat, eat, and not waste your reserve doing exercise, better keep it just in case you need it.
Should the Government fund healthy diets and gym classes instead of drugs?
Both are important, a lot of people suffer pathologies and disorders due to not having a healthy lifestyle.
Could a pill substitutes the whole benefit from healthy lifestyle?
I think that sometimes they could help us to obtain all nutrients which we need, but also we have to try to get those nutrients from the diet.
Marta Córdoba
Hello Nisha!
ResponderEliminarWhat an interesting article! I am the kind of people that, even knowing their benefits, it is so hard for me to follow healthy habits! And that’s because I hate what I must do to have a healthy live. It’s easier for me sitting on the sofa and eating something than going running…
I think Government must fund healthy diets and gym classes but not instead of drugs, both of them. For me, they have the same importance.
I think it’s impossible to substitute the whole benefit from healthy lifestyle with a pill, because a pill can provides you from vitamins and minerals, but they can’t provide the benefits of exercise, for example.
Núria Climent
CONCLUSION:
ResponderEliminarI see most of you agree with the idea that following a healthy lifestyle is very important (although it is hard sometimes) and that the Government should invest more in that. You also said that drugs are also necessary, because not all the diseases depend on our habits and pills may be needed to cure them.