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Interventions slow cognitive decline

A comprehensive programme providing elderly people at risk of dementia with healthy eating guidance, exercise, brain training, and management of metabolic and vascular risk factors appears to slow down cognitive decline, according to a new randomised controlled trial lead from Karolinska Institutet.

In the Finnish Geriatric Intervention Study to Prevent Cognitive Impairment and Disability (FINGER) study, Swedish and Finnish scientists assessed the effects on brain function of a comprehensive intervention aimed at addressing some of the most important risk factors for age-related dementia, such as high body-mass index and heart health. Included in the study were 1,260 people from across Finland, aged 60–77 years, with half randomly allocated to the intervention group, and half allocated to a control group, who received regular health advice only. All of the study participants were deemed to be at risk of dementia, based on standardised test scores.

The intensive intervention consisted of regular meetings over two years with physicians, nurses, and other health professionals. Participants were given comprehensive advice on maintaining a healthy diet, exercise programmes including muscle and cardiovascular training, brain training exercises, and management of metabolic and vascular risk factors through regular blood tests, and other means. After two years, study participants' mental function was scored using a standard test, the Neuropsychological Test Battery (NTB), where a higher score corresponds to better mental functioning.

Overall test scores in the intervention group were 25% higher than in the control group. For some parts of the test, the difference between groups was even more striking; for executive functioning (the brain’s ability to organise and regulate thought processes) scores were 83% higher in the intervention group, and processing speed was 150% higher. Based on a pre-specified analysis, the intervention appeared to have no effect on patients' memory. However, based on post-hoc analyses, there was a difference in memory scores between the intervention and control groups.

[link url="http://ki.se/en/news/brain-training-and-healthy-lifestyle-may-slow-down-cognitive-decline"]Karolinska Institutet material[/link]
[link url="http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(15)60461-5/abstract"]The Lancet article summary[/link]

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