Dementia: How to prevent cognitive decline

Date:
January 20, 2022
Source:
University of Montreal
Summary:
Researchers have determined the optimal number of intervention
sessions needed to prevent cognitive decline in people at risk.



FULL STORY ========================================================================== Physical activity, nutrition and cognitively stimulating activities are
all known to be good ways to prevent Alzheimer's disease and dementia. And older adults at risk can access a variety of lifestyle services to that
end, including diet regimes and exercises for their body and mind.


==========================================================================
Now an international team of researchers led by Universite' de Montre'al psychology professor Sylvie Belleville has determined how many of those intervention sessions are needed prevent cognitive decline in people at
risk: only about a dozen.

Published in Alzheimer's & Dementia : The Journal of the Alzheimer's Association, the study by Dr. Belleville and colleagues at the
universities of Toulouse and Helsinki show that 12 to 14 sessions are all that's were needed to observe an improvement in cognition. Until now, the number of sessions or "doses" needed for optimal effect has been unknown.

"In pharmacological studies, every effort is made to define an optimal treatment dose needed to observe the expected effects, " said Belleville,
a neuropsychologist and researcher at the research centere of the UdeM-affiliated Institut universitaire de ge'riatrie de Montre'al. "This
is rarely done in non- pharmacological studies, especially those on the prevention of cognitive decline, where little information is available
to identify this dose.

"Defining an optimal number of treatment sessions is therefore crucial.,"
she continued. "Indeed, proposing too few sessions will produce no
noticeable improvement effects, but too many sessions is also undesirable
as these interventions are costly. They are costly both for the individual
who follows the treatments, in terms of time and involvement, and for
the organization offering these treatments." The study is based on a
secondary analysis of data from the three-year Multidomain Alzheimer
Preventive Trial (MAPT) and looked at 749 participants who received a
range of interventions aimed at preventing cognitive decline.

These included dietary advice, physical activity and cognitive stimulation
to improve or maintain physical and cognitive abilities.

People's individuality important In their research, Belleville's team
noted that people's individuality should be considered when determining
the optimal treatment dose.

In their study, the researchers evaluated the effects of the sessions in
terms of each participant's age, gender, education level, and cognitive
and physical condition. The relationship between the "dose" each received
and their cognitive improvement was then analyzed.

The main results show an increase with dose followed by a plateau effect
after 12 to 14 sessions. In other words, you need enough dose to see an
effect but offering more than 12 to 14 sessions of treatment does not
mean better results.

That said, participants with lower levels of education or more risk
factors for frailty did benefit from more sessions.

The conclusion? It's important to identify and target an optimal dose and
to customize the treatment for each individual, the researchers say. Not
only is "dosage" an important component of behavioural interventions, it
can also provide valuable information when time and money are limited,
helping public- health agencies develop effective prevention programs
and offer guidance to older adults and clinicians.

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dreams in this free online course from New Scientist -- Sign_up_now_>>> academy.newscientist.com/courses/science-of-sleep-and-dreams ========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by University_of_Montreal. Note:
Content may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Sylvie Belleville, Simon Cloutier, Samira Mellah, Sherry L Willis,
Bruno
Vellas, Nicola Coley, Sandrine Andrieu, Tiia Ngandu. When is
more better? Modeling the effect of dose on the efficacy of
the MAPT multidomain intervention as a function of individual
characteristics. Alzheimer's & Dementia, 2021; 17 (S10) DOI:
10.1002/alz.054948 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/01/220120091141.htm

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