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Lifestyle and the Risk of Dementia in Japanese‐American Men
Author(s) -
Gelber Rebecca P.,
Petrovitch Helen,
Masaki Kamal H.,
Abbott Robert D.,
Ross George Webster,
Launer Lenore J.,
White Lon R.
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
journal of the american geriatrics society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.992
H-Index - 232
eISSN - 1532-5415
pISSN - 0002-8614
DOI - 10.1111/j.1532-5415.2011.03768.x
Subject(s) - medicine , dementia , odds ratio , prospective cohort study , body mass index , confounding , cohort study , confidence interval , cohort , vascular dementia , logistic regression , gerontology , disease
Objectives To determine whether adhering to a healthy lifestyle in midlife may reduce the risk of dementia. Design Case–control study nested in a prospective cohort. Setting The Honolulu‐Asia Aging Study, O ahu, H awaii. Participants Three thousand four hundred sixty‐eight J apanese‐ A merican men (mean age 52 in 1965–1968) examined for dementia 25 years later. Measurements Men at low risk were defined as those with the following midlife characteristics: nonsmoking, body mass index (BMI) less than 25.0 kg/m 2 , physically active, and having a healthy diet (based on alcohol, dairy, meat, fish, fruits, vegetables, cereals, and ratio of monounsaturated to saturated fat). Logistic regression was used to calculate odds ratios ( ORs ) and 95% confidence intervals ( CIs ) for developing overall dementia, A lzheimer's disease ( AD ), and vascular dementia ( VaD ), adjusting for potential confounders. Results Dementia was diagnosed in 6.4% of men (52.5% with AD , 35.0% with VaD ). Examining the risk factors individually, BMI was most strongly associated with greater risk of overall dementia ( OR = 1.87, 95% CI = 1.26–2.77; BMI > 25.0 vs <22.6 kg/m 2 ). All of the individual risk factors except diet score were significantly associated with VaD , whereas none were significantly associated with AD alone. Men with all four low‐risk characteristics (7.2% of the cohort) had the lowest OR for overall dementia ( OR = 0.36, 95% CI = 0.15–0.84). There were no significant associations between the combined low‐risk characteristics and the risk of AD alone. Conclusion Among Japanese‐American men, having a healthy lifestyle in midlife is associated with a lower risk of dementia in late life.