Preventing Dementia: Role of Diabetes
By admin on Aug 11, 2010 in Health and Fitness
Dementia — defined as mental deterioration, as what is seen in Alzheimer’s, for example — may be more prevalent among people with type 2 diabetes, according to a recent study published in British Medical Journal.
The researchers identified factors that appeared to worsen one’s risk of getting dementia, and found that having type 2 diabetes were among these risks, along with low vegetable consumption, depression, and low education levels.
As a result of these findings, the researchers recommend that diabetes and depression be main targets of population-based health prevention programs, as well as more research to confirm the relationship. I would add increasing vegetable consumption, which of course is known to reduce the risk of several chronic diseases.
Conditions like heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and dementia were once thought of as separate and largely unrelated. Now we know that most diseases are indeed related in one way or another, and prevention of one can lead to prevention of others. The basic strategies — a healthy diet, weight management, and regular exercise — really do have a huge impact on the prevention (as well as management and often reversal) of a myriad of diseases.
Credits to:Nutrition Data: Diabetes