Healthy lifestyle behaviors may lower risk for dementia in type 2 diabetes

Living a healthier lifestyle can lower the risk for dementia for adults with type 2 diabetes, according to a speaker at the European Association for the Study of Diabetes annual meeting.

“We know type 2 diabetes is a risk factor for dementia,” Jirapitcha Boonpor, a PhD student in the School of Cardiovascular and Metabolic Health at the University of Glasgow, U.K., said during a presentation. “Thirty-five percent of dementia risk is caused by modifiable risk factors. However, the link between lifestyle, type 2 diabetes and dementia is unclear. This study aims to investigate to what extent the association between type 2 diabetes and dementia risk is modified by lifestyle.”

Researchers conducted a prospective cohort study of 445,364 adults in the UK Biobank (mean age, 55.6 years; 54.6% women). Adults self-reported whether they had type 2 diabetes. Incident dementia was identified from inpatient hospital records. Researchers analyzed nine self-reported lifestyle behaviors: TV viewing time, physical activity, sleep duration, smoking status, alcohol consumption and eating processed meat, red meat, fruits and vegetables, and oily fish. An unhealthy risk score was calculated, with a score of zero defined as having the healthiest lifestyle and a score of seven defined as having the least healthy lifestyle.

The cohort was followed for a median of 9.1 years. Adults with type 2 diabetes had a higher risk for developing dementia than those without diabetes (HR = 1.33; 95% CI, 1.16-1.53; P < .0001). Adults who had an unhealthy lifestyle risk score of seven had an increased risk for dementia compared with those with a risk score of zero (HR = 1.65; 95% CI, 1.08-2.52; P = .02).

Adults without type 2 diabetes and the healthiest lifestyle had a lower risk for dementia than those without type 2 diabetes and the least healthy lifestyle (HR = 0.72; 95% CI, 0.59-0.9; P = .003). Similarly, adults with type 2 diabetes and the healthiest lifestyle risk score had a decreased risk for dementia compared with adults with diabetes and the least healthy lifestyle (HR = 0.55; 95% CI, 0.38-0.92; P = .003).

“Having type 2 diabetes increases the chance of developing dementia, but this could be reduced if people with type 2 diabetes comply with healthy lifestyle behaviors,” Boonpor said. “There is no treatment for dementia, so prevention is more important.”

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European Association for the Study of Diabetes