Unhealthy Habits Raise Risks of Memory and Thinking Problems

Previous research has linked declines in thinking and memory skills with unhealthy behaviors such as smoking, sedentary lifestyle, low fruit and vegetable consumption, and other factors.  Severine Sabia, from Hopital Paul Brousse (France), and colleagues studied 5,123 men and women enrolled in the Whitehall II study (United Kingdom), following them for a 17-year period.   The team surveyed the health behaviors of civil service office workers in London, when the workers were 44 years (early midlife), 56 years (midlife), and 61 years (late-midlife). After correcting for confounding factors, the researchers found that the more each of the subjects reported engaging in unhealthy behaviors, the greater the risk of cognitive deficit. Those subjects who currently smoked showed the lowest memory, verbal, and math-related thinking and reasoning skills at each survey. Similar findings were noted for those who ate fewer than 2 servings of fruits and vegetables a day.  Men and women who did not engage in much physical activity during midlife and late-midlife also showed greater risk for cognitive deficit. Reports the team: “The odds of poor executive function and memory were the greater the more times the participant reported unhealthy behaviors. This study suggests that both the number of unhealthy behaviors and their duration are associated with subsequent cognitive function in later life.”