There are many people around me who have expressed this view to me, that is, they are worried that they will get sick more when they get old, their quality of life will decline, and it will be very hard to live! Because there is now a view that many diseases in the elderly are related to age. It can be said that the older the age, the greater the probability of the disease.

So, is this view correct?

A new study in the British Medical Journal shows that this is actually a misconception. In fact, longevity is not the main cause of disease in the elderly, but unhealthy living habits are the focus. Bad habits that reduce life expectancy also increase the risk of Alzheimer’s. So, what good living habits can make people live longer without getting sick?

Nearly 20 years of long-term research, 5 health indicators are related to the risk of Alzheimer’s in the future

As the average human lifespan continues to increase, so does the risk of chronic disease throughout life. Take Alzheimer’s disease as an example. Past research has confirmed that the risk of people suffering from Alzheimer’s increases with age. Thinking about the possibility of getting sick in old age may make people wonder: if you don’t keep healthy and walk early, will you be able to avoid the pain of illness?

However, a paper recently published in the British Medical Journal (The BMJ) pointed out that bad habits that make people short-lived are also one of the important factors that increase Alzheimer’s disease. Having to be with Alzheimer’s for a longer period of time means you may be getting older and your life is out of your control.

The content of this study comes from the “Chicago Health and Aging Project” conducted by Rush University Medical Center in the United States. The research team started in 1993, recruiting Chicago citizens to participate, and ended in 2012. During nearly 20 years, the final valid sample size of the study was 2449 people. Participants were all over the age of 65, with backgrounds ranging from race, gender and education.

In order to evaluate the relationship between living habits, average life expectancy and Alzheimer’s disease , the researchers distributed questionnaires and asked subjects to self-evaluate their performance in five aspects, including:

1. Eating habits

The subjects will get a “MIND Diet” (English: MIND Diet, which is a combination of the Mediterranean diet and the Deshu diet. It is recommended to eat berries, green vegetables, and control the intake more. Saturated fat, which is scientifically believed to slow down brain aging and reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s disease. ) Quantitative scale, self-filling in the past year, the frequency of eating certain foods. Fully complying with the guidelines of the Maid diet, you can get a full score of 15 points. In this study, subjects were considered to have healthy eating habits if they scored in the top 40% of all subjects.

The Meder diet emphasizes a high intake of whole grains, legumes, green and non-green vegetables, berries, nuts, fish and poultry, and less red meat. Oils should consume olive oil, reduce the intake of cream, and avoid foods with low nutritional value such as fast food, alcohol, and desserts. Such a dietary combination is rich in fiber, vitamin E, omega-3 fatty acids, and flavonoids, which are beneficial for brain health and reduce the incidence of Alzheimer’s disease.

2. Awareness activities

The research team asked subjects to fill out a questionnaire asking them to indicate how often they participated in seven awareness activities, including: reading, going to a museum, playing cards, crosswords, puzzles, and playing chess. Past research has shown that engaging in these conscious activities can help stimulate the brain, enhance thinking skills, and slow memory decline.

The more frequently the subjects engaged in these activities in the past year, the higher the score. Those who score in the top 40% of all subjects can be regarded as having healthy habits of conscious activities.

3. Moderate to high-intensity physical activity

The higher the frequency of exercise, the lower the risk of developing dementia. Using items from the 1985 American Health Survey, the research team asked subjects to self-report their time spent engaging in six moderate- to high-intensity physical activities in the past year. This includes walking, gardening, freehand or weight training, cycling, and swimming. According to the guidelines issued by several authoritative organizations such as the American Heart Association and the World Health Organization, adults should engage in at least 150 minutes of moderate to high-intensity physical activity a week to be considered healthy.

4. Smoking

The researchers asked subjects to self-assess their frequency of smoking: never smoking, ever smoking (now quitting), and current smoking habit. Those who have never smoked and who have quit smoking can be considered to have healthy living habits in this program.

5. Drinking

This is the same as smoking, and subjects are asked to self-evaluate their alcohol consumption. According to the relevant dietary guidelines, people who drink less alcohol are less likely to develop Alzheimer’s later in life. The daily drinking amount of women should be controlled under 15 grams, and men should be controlled under 30 grams (the number of pure alcohol, which can be replaced with the corresponding amount of alcohol according to the degree).

Among the above 5 indicators, if the subject reaches the health threshold of the item, 1 point can be awarded. Scores for all subjects ranged from 0 to 5. The higher the score, the healthier the life.

During the study period, subjects were tested every 3 years on their conscious thinking ability to assess their degree of deterioration in different aspects such as memory, language, attention, observation, and orientation. If there are 2 or more obvious functional deterioration in the self-assessment results, the research team will ask the subject to seek further medical examination to confirm whether it is Alzheimer’s disease.

Longevity is not synonymous with old age! The more you focus on your health, the less time you have to suffer from dementia

At the end of the study period, 339 of the 2,449 participants had Alzheimer’s disease. The research team found that 65-year-old subjects who met the aforementioned 4-5 health indicators had an average remaining life expectancy of 23.1 and 24.2 years for men and women, respectively, and the average remaining life time of Alzheimer’s disease was 1.4 years (accounting for their average remaining life). 6.1% of their remaining lifespan) and 2.6 years (10.8% of their remaining lifespan).

In contrast, 65-year-old men and women who met only one of the five health indicators, or even did not meet them at all, had an average remaining life expectancy of 17.4 and 21.1 years, respectively, and the average remaining life time of dementia was 2.1 years (accounting for the remaining 12% of their lifespan) and 4.1 years (19.3% of their remaining lifespan).

The research team analyzed that from the statistical results, compared with the subjects who met the five health indicators, the subjects who met only one or even did not meet the criteria had a shorter average life expectancy and a longer remaining life span with Alzheimer’s disease. long.

Similarly, the relationship between healthy living habits and average remaining lifespan and Alzheimer’s risk is more pronounced with older age. For 85-year-old women who met 4-5 health indicators, the average remaining lifespan was 8.5 years, and the average remaining life time of Alzheimer’s disease was 2.6 years. However, women of the same age who met only one or none of the health indicators had an average remaining lifespan of 7.2 years and an average of 4.4 years of remaining life with dementia. Unhealthy older women are almost twice as likely to have dementia as their remaining life expectancy.

The same findings apply to older men. An 85-year-old male who met 4-5 health indicators had an average age of 1.5 years of dementia, accounting for 17.7% of the rest of his life. For 85-year-old men who met only one or none of the health indicators, the average number of years with dementia was 2.4 years, or 46% of the rest of their lives.

Statistically, women live longer, on average, and have a higher chance of developing Alzheimer’s in their lifetime, the researchers noted. However, living a long life does not necessarily have to be equated with the elderly suffering from illness. Maintaining good living habits can prolong a healthy lifespan and allow people to enjoy a good quality of life!