Tuesday, March 12, 2019

Diet quality in midlife not associated with later risk for dementia


The quality of diet for adults in midlife (average age 50) wasn't associated with later risk of dementia in a study that included adults followed for more than two decades. Other observational studies have suggested diet may be linked to cognitive health but those studies often had short follow-up periods that could not cover the long preclinical period before dementia diagnosis. In this study, about 8,200 adults were without dementia in 1991-1993 and 344 cases of dementia were recorded during nearly 25 years of follow-up. During that time, the adults completed diet questionnaires to assess the quality of their diets, with a higher consumption of vegetables, fruits, whole grains, nuts and legumes, omega-3 fatty acids and most polyunsaturated fatty acids indicating a healthier diet. Researchers report that repeated assessments of diet quality during midlife didn't show any significant association with subsequent risk for dementia. The study relied on self-reported food frequency questionnaires.

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