A healthy lifestyle reduces the risk of dementia
Published in The Journal of Prevention of Alzheimer’s Disease, the PIENSA study is a clinical trial carried out jointly by the Hospital del Mar Research Institute and the Barcelonaβeta Brain Research Center, a research center of the Pasqual Maragall Foundation.
For one year, a hundred cognitively healthy volunteers, but in stages that may be prior to the onset of dementia, were monitored and divided into three groups. One group received only healthy advice. The other two groups received a lifestyle improvement intervention program, combined with EGCG or a placebo.
Almost half of the participants who received the lifestyle program combined with EGCG improved their cognition, compared to 30% of the participants in the group that received the lifestyle program combined with a placebo. These cognitive benefits in the EGCG group were maintained after the end of treatment.
According to the study results, participants who completed the full intervention program improved their cognition 4.5 times more, and the risk of developing dementia for these individuals will be reduced by approximately 25%.
The study concludes that combining a healthy lifestyle program with epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), a natural compound found in green tea, could offer sustained cognitive benefits in people at high risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease.
