Diet quality during midlife not associated with dementia risk

Reference

Akbaraly TN, Singh-Manoux A, Dugravot A, Brunner EJ, Kivimaki M, Sabia S. Association of midlife diet with subsequent risk for dementia. JAMA 2019;321(10):957-968.

Synopsis

A high-quality diet is important for good health, but can it reduce the risk of dementia? These investigators analyzed data from an ongoing prospective cohort study established in 1985 among civil servants in London (N = 10,308). Follow-up examinations occurred approximately every 5 years and included a dietary intake assessment with a food frequency questionnaire. A "healthy" diet score considered intake of vegetables, fruit, whole grains, fatty acids, sugar-sweetened drinks and fruit juices, red and processed meat, fat, sodium, and alcohol. The total score ranged from 0 to 100, with higher scores representing a more healthful diet. Dementia cases were obtained from national databases and identified using standard international diagnostic criteria. In addition, a cognitive test was given to participants starting in 1997 to assess memory, executive function, and fluency. Multiple analyses controlled for potential confounders, including age, sex, occupation, education, race/ethnicity, smoking, exercise, hypertension, dyslipidemia, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. After a median follow-up of 24.8 years, no significant differences in the incidence rate for dementia occurred between the tertiles of lowest and highest diet quality. In addition, no significant association was found for the risk of dementia based on diet quality in participants with apolipoprotein E4 genotype.