Structured exercise and diet ‘boosts memory in those with dementia risk’

Want LBC stories before everyone else? Set us as your Preferred Source on Google

The trial across 12 countries in Latin America included more than 1,000 patients aged 60 to 77.

They were deemed to be at risk of developing dementia due to age or factors such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol and whether or not they smoked.

Around half were assigned to complete a two-year programme, which included supervised exercise sessions four days a week and personalised dietary advice focusing on brain-healthy foods such as green leafy vegetables, whole grains, berries, fish, nuts and beans.

Activities were tailored to local culture and included salsa dancing, while researchers ensured diets were affordable and easy to source locally.

Read more: Ann Widdecombe murder suspect seen leaving house with ‘wooden stick’ as neighbours say he ‘lived alone and was rarely seen’

Read more: Summer could be ‘deadliest on record’ - as thousands feared dead in early summer heatwaves

Patients also met in small groups to socialise, took part in brain training on computers, and regularly had their blood pressure, weight and blood sugar recorded.

The second group were given general health advice and attended four one-hour meetings over the two years.

The study found that cognition, episodic memory, executive function and procession speed were all better among those following the structured programme.

Researchers said that the findings, published in The Lancet, suggest that “harmonised, non-pharmacological interventions can be implemented across diverse sociocultural settings while maintaining standardisation and producing measurable cognitive benefits in older adults”.

Alzheimer’s Society estimates that about a million people in the UK have dementia, a number likely to rise to 1.4 million by 2040.