%0 Journal Article
%T The Role of Lifestyle Behaviors on 20-Year Cognitive Decline
%A D. Cadar
%A H. Pikhart
%A G. Mishra
%A A. Stephen
%A D. Kuh
%A M. Richards
%J Journal of Aging Research
%D 2012
%I Hindawi Publishing Corporation
%R 10.1155/2012/304014
%X This study examined the association between smoking, physical activity and dietary choice at 36 and 43 years, and change in these lifestyle behaviors between these ages, and decline in verbal memory and visual search speed between 43 and 60¨C64 years in 1018 participants from MRC National Survey of Health and Development (NSHD, the British 1946 birth cohort). ANCOVA models were adjusted for sex, social class of origin, childhood cognition, educational attainment, adult social class, and depression; then the lifestyle behaviors were additionally mutually adjusted. Results showed that healthy dietary choice and physical activity were associated, respectively, with slower memory and visual search speed decline over 20 years, with evidence that increasing physical activity was important. Adopting positive health behaviors from early midlife may be beneficial in reducing the rate of cognitive decline and ultimately reducing the risk of dementia. 1. Introduction With an increase in the ageing population, the number of older people affected by cognitive decline and dementia is continually rising, causing a major public health impact on individuals and governments around the world [1]. Despite major progress in understanding the neurobiology of cognitive impairment and dementia, there are still no clear determinants and complete causal models available for explaining risks for this condition [2]. Substantial evidence suggests that certain lifestyle behaviors (particularly smoking, sedentary lifestyle, and poor dietary choices) predict faster cognitive decline [3¨C5], and higher risk of dementia [6, 7], while physical, mental and social leisure activities are found to be protective [8, 9]. A study of London civil servants [10] highlights that the number and duration of unhealthy behaviors are associated with subsequent cognitive function in later life. Similar findings from the Suwon Longitudinal Aging Study (SLAS) showed that a combination of multiple positive lifestyle behaviors (such as nonsmoking, vegetable consumption, and social activity) was associated with higher cognitive ability [11]. However, since these behaviors tend to cluster [12, 13], the extent to which apparent effects of one behavior are attributable to (i.e., confounded by) another is uncertain. In addition, relatively little is known about the longitudinal effects of these behaviors on cognitive decline; yet associations among multiple health behaviors place the emphasis on longitudinal studies, since patterns of behaviors tend to develop over decades, with implications for targeted
%U http://www.hindawi.com/journals/jar/2012/304014/