![]() Making changes to these risk factors could prevent or delay up to 40% of dementias, the report found. Similarly, a 2020 report by the Lancet commission on dementia identified 12 modifiable risk factors for dementia, including diet. This measure provides an estimate of a person’s dementia risk, and also suggests ways they can lower that risk through lifestyle changes. Together, diet and these other modifiable lifestyle factors make up a “ Resilience Index” developed by Galvin and his colleagues. However, “in combination with other lifestyle changes such as physical exercise, cognitive activity, social engagement, mindfulness, green space exposure and other such activities, it is likely to have a more powerful effect,” he said. Galvin said by itself, this single change would have only a small effect. So what kind of impact would eating a handful of blueberries every day have on a person’s risk of developing dementia? “While future studies are needed to replicate these findings,” he said, “this work is exciting because trials such as this one provide experimental confirmation of observational studies of dietary patterns.” However, “the results suggest that powdered blueberries provided a significant benefit in memory recall,” he said. Galvin, professor at the University of Miami and director of the Comprehensive Center for Brain Health at UHealth - University of Miami Health System, cautioned that this is a small study. ![]() However, there was no improvement in delayed word recall, in contrast to an earlier study using wild blueberry juice.ĭr. In the new study, researchers also found that people who consumed a drink made from wild blueberry powder saw improvements on two cognitive function tests - immediate word recall and a test of task switching. ![]() Lower cerebral blood flow - blood flow the brain - is linked to an increased risk of dementia. The new study, though, found no significant differences between the two groups for arterial stiffness, diastolic blood pressure or blood lipids - risk factors for cardiovascular disease - or cerebral blood flow. “This improvement of endothelial function in and of itself is a protective factor against atherosclerosis,” he said.Ītherosclerosis, the build-up of fats, cholesterol and other substances on the inner artery walls, can increase the risk of heart attack, stroke, vascular dementia and other conditions. The endothelium is a thin membrane that lines the inside of the blood vessels and heart. In addition, Pilchik said the new study showed that the decrease in systolic blood pressure was due to improvements in the ability of the blood vessels to dilate (widen) and endothelial function. He pointed to a recent study which found that for each 5 mmHg decrease in systolic blood pressure, a person’s risk of cardiovascular events such as heart attack or stroke fell by 10%. Robert Pilchik, a cardiologist with Manhattan Cardiology in New York City, who was not involved in the new study, told Healthline. “Any reduction in blood pressure reduces the incidence of stroke, heart attack and other end-organ damage,” Dr. These kinds of changes are good for the entire cardiovascular system. ![]() Other studies have also found that eating blueberries - or blueberry compounds known as anthocyanins - improves vascular function. An earlier study by the same researchers at King’s College London in the United Kingdom found similar changes in middle-aged healthy males who consumed a drink made from wild blueberry powder.
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