Women with heart-healthy diet are less likely to experience cognitive deterioration

A study indicates that women who followed blood pressure-lowering diets in their middle years were roughly 17 per cent less likely to report memory loss and other indicators of cognitive decline decades later. The new findings, led by researchers from NYU Grossman School of Medicine, suggest that adopting the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension, or DASH diet, in midlife may improve cognitive function later in life for women, who account for more than two-thirds of those diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, the most common form of dementia. The findings, which were published today in the journal Alzheimer’s & Dementia, have implications for the estimated 6.5 million Americans over the age of 65 who will be diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in 2022. This figure is anticipated to more than double by 2060. “Subjective complaints about daily cognitive performance are early predictors of more serious neurocognitive disorders such as Alzheimer’s,” said Yu Chen, PhD, MPH, professor in the Department of Population Health and senior author of the study. “With more than 30 years follow-up, we found that the stronger the adherence to a DASH diet in midlife, the less likely women are to report cognitive issues much later in life.”