历时十年！科学家发现这6种生活方式可减缓记忆衰退

来自中国的研究团队针对近3万名老年人持续进行了10年的跟踪调查研究，发现了6种关键的健康生活方式可以显著减缓老年人的记忆力衰退。该研究于2023年1月25日发表在了《英国医学杂志》（British Medical Journal, The BMJ）上。

Memory loss is a common part of aging. A decadelong study of older adults in China has found that a healthy lifestyle is linked to slower memory decline even when people carry a risky gene for Alzheimer's.

来自中国国家神经疾病医学中心（China's National Center for Neurological Disorders）和其他医疗机构的研究人员对29000名60岁以上且认知能力正常的老年人进行了长达十年随访，研究对象中49%是女性。这些老年人来自中国的12个省份，他们反映了中国在地理特征、城市化程度、经济状况、饮食模式以及社会文化上的差异。

Researchers from China's National Center for Neurological Disorders and other medical institutes followed 29,000 people aged at least 60 years with normal cognitive abilities for up to 10 years. Forty-nine percent of the participants were women.

2009年研究开始时，研究人员使用听觉词语学习测验（Auditory Verbal Learning Test, AVLT）来测试研究对象的记忆功能。同时，他们还对研究对象体内的载脂蛋白E4进行了检验，发现其中20%是携带者，就把研究对象分为了APOE携带者组（APOE-carrier group）和非携带者组（non-carrier group）。

At the beginning of the study in 2009, the researchers tested participants' memory function with the Auditory Verbal Learning Test, one of the most widely used word-learning tests. They were also tested for the APOE gene, the most common gene linked with Alzheimer's. Around 20 percent of the participants were carriers of the risk gene.

随后，研究人员分别在2012、2014、2016和2019年对研究对象进行了随访评估。他们把六种健康生活特征纳入了研究中。它们分别是：

研究对象如果满足4-6个健康生活特征，则被归为良好生活方式组（favorable group），满足2-3个特征被归为一般生活方式组（average group），只满足一个特征或一个都不符合的被归为不良生活方式组（unfavorable group）。

十年随访期间，7164名参与者死亡，3567人因各种原因退出研究。最终结果显示，每个研究对象的听觉词语学习测验成绩都有所下滑。但是，良好生活方式组分数下降得最为平缓，不良生活方式组测验分数最低。良好和一般生活方式组中APOE4基因携带者的记忆力下降速度也低于不良生活方式组。

The results showed that the mean AVLT scores continuously declined over the 10 years. The highest test scores were in the favorable group and the lowest in the unfavorable group. The participants with favorable and average lifestyles, even when they were APOE carriers, had a slower rate of memory decline than the participants with unfavorable lifestyles.

六个健康生活特征中，健康的饮食对记忆力的影响最大，之后依次是积极的认知活动、定期的体育锻炼、频繁的社会交往、不吸烟和从不饮酒。

图源：视觉中国

此外，良好生活方式组患轻度认知障碍和痴呆症的可能性降低了近90%，一般生活方式组降低了30%。由此可见，健康的生活方式确实对改善整体健康状况有着潜在益处。

Meanwhile, the results also showed that a favorable lifestyle was associated with a 90 percent lower probability of progression to mild cognitive impairment and dementia. The number for the average group was 30 percent.

研究结果强有力地证明了健康的生活方式与记忆力衰退速度放缓有关，该结论同样适用于那些从基因角度看记忆力更容易衰退的人群。“这些结果可能为公共健康倡议提供重要信息，以保护老年人不受记忆力衰退的影响。”

The researchers said that they studied the contribution of each lifestyle factor and their combined effects in a large sample size over an entire decade and offered important information to protect older adults against memory decline.

The results about the APOE carriers also provide an optimistic outlook that healthy lifestyle risks are associated with a slower rate of memory decline, regardless of the genetic risk.

编辑：陈月华

实习生：王雨凡

来源：新华网 英国医学杂志 央广网

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