Lifestyle coaching better than drugs
Lifestyle coaching could help to slow cognitive decline in people with Alzheimer’s disease, according to a new study which found that a coaching regime that included computerised brain exercises could provide more cognitive benefit than Alzheimer’s drugs. Published online in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, research by the Institute for Systems Biology (ISB) in Seattle compared 24 patients receiving standard care with 31 patients receiving standard care plus telephonic personalised lifestyle coaching. ““Over a two-year period, our trial showed that personalised lifestyle coaching in addition to standard care decreases the amount of cognitive decline in patients on the Alzheimer’s disease spectrum,” said ISB senior research scientist Dr Jared Roach, who led the trial. “This is evidence that personalised coaching focused on diet, exercise, brain training and other lifestyle factors should be part of the first line of dementia care and prevention.” The brain exercises used in the study were from the BrainHQ brain training app. https://content.iospress.com/articles/journal-of-alzheimers-disease/jad230403.