Does the village of Ballabgarh, India hold the key to preventing
dementia?Researchers have found a much lower than expected rate of
dementia among residents of this northern Indian village. While
one might expect that people don’t live as long in rural India
on average as we do, the discrepancy holds even when taking this
factor into account.Over 5000 people were tested there by doctors from the
University of Pittsburgh to look for clues to this phenomenon.
They carry the same proportion of the APO4E gene as do Americans
in Pennsylvania.But guess what? They are all very physically active, eat low-fat
and/or vegetarian diets, and obesity is unheard of in
Ballabgarh. So once again, we have learned something we already
know: Eat well and exercise. There is also a very strong social
structure, another factor shown to improve health and
well-being.With many, if not most, cases of dementia likely to have a
subtle vascular component, this revelation should come as no
surprise. Healthy living is, as always, the best key to healthy
aging.
