To prevent “mild cognitive impairment,” attention must be paid to reducing individual risk factors.
Behavioral risk factors
- Nutrition – see .below under causes/vitamin deficiency.
- Consumption of stimulants
- Alcohol (woman: > 20 g/day; man: > 30 g/day) → dose-dependent decreasing gray matter density, especially in the hippocampus and parts of the amygdala
- Tobacco (smoking)
- Drug use
- Cannabis (hashish and marijuana)
- Psycho-social situation
- Stress
- TV consumption (> 50 years of age and > 3.5 hours of TV consumption) → TV-related dementia (= degradation of verbal memory).
Medication
- S. u. Medical history/medication history
Environmental exposures – intoxications (poisonings).
- Lead
- Solvent encephalopathy (brain changes due to exposure to solvents):
- Benzene (e.g., contained in: motor gasoline).
- Chlorinated hydrocarbons (e.g., contained in: Solutions for dry cleaning, cleaning agents for engines and in paint and grease removers).
- Petroleum-based solvents (e.g. contained in: Furniture care products and carpet adhesives as well as paints and varnishes).
- Drug-induced hyponatremia (sodium deficiency) such as by diuretics (diuretics that promote the formation and excretion of urine), antiepileptic drugs or occasionally by ACE inhibitors – this can lead to secondary dementia
- Perchloroethylene
- Mercury
- Heavy metal poisoning (arsenic, lead, mercury, thallium).
Prevention factors (protective factors)
- Mediterranean diet (risk reduction for mild cognitive impairment, MCI).
- Alcohol consumption: light to moderate alcohol consumption (maximum 8 standard drinks per week for women and 15 for men) is associated with improved cognitive performance in middle and older age.
- Book reading, computer work: risk reduction depending on genotype: APOE Ɛ4 subjects who did not engage in appropriate activities had the highest risk (MCI risk: +74%).
- Regular physical activity (risk reduction of 22 percent).
- In sedentary older men and women, a 6-month exercise program (participating in 45-minute aerobic exercise 3 times a week) and a healthy DASH diet (increased consumption of fruits and vegetables and foods rich in saturated fats and sugars replaced with fat-free or low-fat dairy products) significantly improved cognitive abilities: after 6 months of exercise and diet, there was an 8.8-year “rejuvenation effect,” ie. i.e., improvement in biological age, with a very wide 95% confidence interval from 1.0 to 18.7 years. Cognitive tests focusing on executive functions showed improvement.
- Lifestyle interventions of healthy diet, exercise, and cognitive brain training improved cognitive performance in seniors at increased risk for dementia.
