Cognitive decline link to web site.

[OldTurtle]

Dementia risk may increase if you're eating these foods, study says | CNN

Eating ultraprocessed foods such as hot dogs, French fries, sodas, cookies and ice cream could set you on the road to cognitive decline, a new study revealed, but there is a way to overcome the negative impact.

www.cnn.com

 

[Jaded'n'faded]

We should all cut down on ultraprocessed foods - there is nothing good about them! (OK, so they are tasty and delicious, easy and convenient, but...)

But I do wish these articles wouldn't imply that if you do cut down, you can prevent dementia. Reducing your possible risk by an unknown amount may well be a good thing but plenty of people with incredibly healthy diets still get dementia.

 

[OldTurtle]

You make an excellent point Jaded'n'faded.

 

[Lawson58]

We should all cut down on ultraprocessed foods - there is nothing good about them! (OK, so they are tasty and delicious, easy and convenient, but...)

But I do wish these articles wouldn't imply that if you do cut down, you can prevent dementia. Reducing your possible risk by an unknown amount may well be a good thing but plenty of people with incredibly healthy diets still get dementia.

My husband has been vegetarian for many years so has not been a fan of KFC, MacDonalds etc. non smoker and enjoys a glass of wine at night. GP considered him to have MCI about ten years ago and he has been slipping slowly ever since.

Does that mean that if he had eaten all the bad stuff that he would have declined sooner, faster?

 

[imthedaughter]

My dad didn't eat much processed food and he ate plenty of fruit and veg. I refuse to accept that he somehow 'gave' himself dementia.

 

[Knitandpurl]

I agree, you sometimes feel as they are trying to blame the person for having dementia, like saying staying brain active helps stop dementia - and you don’t have to look far to find examples of incredibly intelligent and brain active people who get dementia. What we need is research for cures and treatment.

 

[RosettaT]

My OH was never a couch potato, he often worked 2 jobs or was a volunteer for years because he liked to be busy.
He never smoked, drank only in moderation, never ate 'junk' food.
Yet..... the rest is history.
@Knitandpurl I so agree. It often seems like they blame the person because they could have done more to help themselves. I find it insulting.

 

[imthedaughter]

I agree, you sometimes feel as they are trying to blame the person for having dementia, like saying staying brain active helps stop dementia - and you don’t have to look far to find examples of incredibly intelligent and brain active people who get dementia. What we need is research for cures and treatment.

It's victim-blaming. I literally had someone at an assisted living place say 'Well he obviously was a drinker' - now, he was a pub landlord, but he really was a very light drinker, a half or a pint a day of real ale on average. He didn't have much of a tolerance and didn't often touch spirits. It made me question if I even knew him but when I mentioned it to my mum, who is not a fan of dad, even she said he was never much of a drinker. Someone said to me that it's often the intelligent ones who end up with it - anecdotal of course but it's like cancer, you can literally find people saying one thing and then the exact opposite.

 

[Helly68]

Indeed. My Mum had high blood pressure, so had a healthy diet, loads of exercise. Never overweight. Always cooked from scratch, until she couldn't any more.
Ironically, her physical health was pretty good, even after dementia had taken everything else - which brought it's own problems.
Both my parents read avidly, did crosswords and my Mum attended adult education classes. Mummy had mixed dementia and my father now has alzheimers. Does lifestyle make a difference? Maybe, but we eed to know much more and it should never be about blaming people.

 

[canary]

I often wonder about these sort of studies that say that people who eat processed foods/dont keep their mind active/take antidepressants/etc are more likely to get dementia. Im sure that it is correct that these people are more likely to be diagnosed with dementia, but I frequently wonder if the reason for that is because they already have the early stages of dementia. If they do have early, undiagnosed stages, then perhaps they are already struggling with things like cooking, doing things to keep their brain active, or are getting depressed due to their early symptoms.

 

[imthedaughter]

I often wonder about these sort of studies that say that people who eat processed foods/dont keep their mind active/take antidepressants/etc are more likely to get dementia. Im sure that it is correct that these people are more likely to be diagnosed with dementia, but I frequently wonder if the reason for that is because they already have the early stages of dementia. If they do have early, undiagnosed stages, then perhaps they are already struggling with things like cooking, doing things to keep their brain active, or are getting depressed due to their early symptoms.

I was wondering this. I used to work at a bridge club making the 'teas' and a lot of the ladies there would say they don't have much appetite or energy or inclination to cook, but a small M&S ready meal was easy, pleasant to eat and not overwhelmingly large. And if you're widowed and used to cooking for at least two then it's just you, I get that. Their minds were extremely active but if any of them were diagnosed with dementia you could say - oh, it's all those ready meals. I'm not sure this correlation is causation - but I've not seen the data or the studies and the articles don't make it clear if this was a long term study of behaviours or just reported data at time of diagnosis.

 

[Canadian Joanne]

I really do think that the causes are multifactorial and that it will take a very long time before they are figured out. I do not expect to see any major advances in my lifetime. I know that sounds rather defeatist but look at how long it has taken for cancer research to extend and improve life for cancer patients.

I agree that these studies smack of the "blame the victim". My paternal grandmother died of lung cancer at the age of 67, yet never smoked, drank well water, grew her own organic vegetables, wasn't overweight, was physically active, etc etc. Yet someone tried to tell me that she had probably used talcum powder. It's enraging. People get sick, sometimes these illnesses just happen.