From: unk...@googlegroups.com   
      
   Living a healthy lifestyle could delay dementia by up to 12 years   
      
   Landmark UK study tracked the lives of 2,500 men for 35 years    
   Researchers asked men to follow a five-step healthy living plan   
   They were urged to take regular exercise, not smoke, maintain a healthy   
   weight, eat a good diet and have a low alcohol intake   
   Study, which started in South Wales in 1979, is longest of its kind to examine   
   the influence of environmental factors in chronic disease   
   Found dementia could be delayed by 12 years and heart disease by six    
   By JENNY HOPE FOR THE DAILY MAIL   
      
   PUBLISHED: 04:32 EST, 31 October 2014 | UPDATED: 07:36 EST, 31 October 2014   
      
   Living a healthy lifestyle could delay dementia by up to 12 years, according   
   to a landmark UK study.   
      
   Heart disease could also be staved off by around six years compared with those   
   who neglect their diet and exercise, said the health specialists.   
      
   The project tracking the lives of 2,500 men for 35 years pinpointed five steps   
   in leading a long and disease-free life which mirror growing evidence about   
   the benefits of healthy living. They are: taking regular exercise, not   
   smoking, having a healthy    
   bodyweight, eating a good diet and having a low alcohol intake.   
      
   The study in South Wales is the longest of its kind to examine the influence   
   of environmental factors in chronic disease.   
      
   From 1979 to the present day, researchers from Cardiff University followed the   
   lifestyle habits of men aged 45-59 living in the Caerphilly area.   
      
   A landmark study carried out in South Wales over 35 years found living a   
   healthy lifestyle could delay dementia by up to 12 years, while heart disease   
   could be staved off by six years. File picture   
   +3   
   A landmark study carried out in South Wales over 35 years found living a   
   healthy lifestyle could delay dementia by up to 12 years, while heart disease   
   could be staved off by six years. File picture   
      
   They found that those who followed four or five of the specified healthy steps   
   were 60 per cent less likely to develop dementia.   
      
   There was a similar reduction in the risk of heart attacks and strokes, along   
   with 40 per cent fewer cancers.   
      
   There was also a 70 per cent cut in the risk of diabetes, according to   
   evidence presented yesterday at a Healthy Ageing summit run by the university.    
      
   Professor Peter Elwood, who has led the School of Medicine study since its   
   inception, said the findings were a 'wake-up' call.   
      
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   'Thirty years ago, only 30 men in our study followed all five of our   
   recommended healthy steps,' he said.   
      
   'Although following these steps does not give them complete protection against   
   disease, the men who, despite living healthily, developed a disease did so at   
   a much older age than the men neglectful of their lifestyle.   
      
   'Thus the development of heart disease was delayed by up to six years and it   
   was up to around an additional 12 years before dementia took its grip.    
      
   'On the less rosy end of the spectrum, 40 men in every 100 lived a life so   
   neglectful that by any definition their lifestyle was unhealthy. They   
   experienced none of the reductions in disease.'   
      
   He added: 'The appalling fact is that recent surveys across the whole of Wales   
   yield almost identical proportions of men and women following the healthy and   
   unhealthy lifestyles found in Caerphilly 35 years ago.    
      
   'And the picture isn't much better in England: 53 per cent of men drink more   
   than the recommended amount and only half of men meet the govern   
   ent-recommended scores for well-being.'    
      
   Researchers examined a group of 2,500 men, starting in 1979. They encourage   
   the participants to take regular exercise, maintain a healthy body weight and   
   refrain from smoking. File picture   
   Researchers examined a group of 2,500 men, starting in 1979. They encourage   
   the participants to take regular exercise, maintain a healthy body weight and   
   refrain from smoking. File picture   
      
   The men taking part were also asked to eat a healthy diet and keep their   
   alcohol intake to a minimum   
   The men taking part were also asked to eat a healthy diet and keep their   
   alcohol intake to a minimum   
      
      
   The advice given by the project has become familiar from other research   
   showing that staying slim, eating lots of fruit and vegetables, exercising   
   regularly, drinking in moderation and never smoking boosts longevity.   
      
   The Caerphilly participants come from a community where consumption of fruit   
   and vegetables was low, so three or more portions a day was accepted as   
   'healthy'.    
      
   Fat making up less than 30 per cent of calories was classed as a good diet.   
      
   Those regarded as physically active were walking two or more miles or cycling   
   ten or more to work each day, or taking 'vigorous' exercise regularly.   
      
   Low alcohol consumption was defined as three or fewer units per day, with   
   abstinence not treated as healthy behaviour.   
      
   Clare Walton, of the Alzheimer's Society which part-funded the project, said:   
   'These studies are expensive and complicated but essential to understand how   
   dementia can be prevented.'   
      
   The Caerphilly research was a pilot for the much larger UK BIOBANK study   
   involving more than 500,000 Britons. This is led by Professor John Gallacher,   
   who also works at Cardiff.    
      
   http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2815485/Living-healthy   
   lifestyle-delay-dementia-12-years.html   
      
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