Editor's Note: Growing a loyal patient base can be as simple as informed conversations on the health issues patients think about daily, from diet to exercise to healthy aging and cancer prevention, and much more. Share the following research summaries as an education tool that helps reinforce your value in patients' everyday health.

Beat the Alzheimer's Gene

At least when it comes to reducing the risk of cognitive decline. A new study that evaluated 60-77-year-olds with risk factors for memory disorders, including Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia, concludes that lifestyle counseling on nutrition, exercise, cognitive exercises, and other methods known to improve brain health reduced the risk of cognitive decline even in seniors with the APOE4 gene – the strongest risk factor for Alzheimer's disease, present in an estimated 25 percent of people diagnosed with the disease.

Reference

• Solomon A, et al. Effect of the Apolipoprotein E genotype on cognitive change during a multidomain lifestyle intervention: a subgroup analysis of a randomized clinical trial. JAMA Neurol, 2018;75(4):462-470.

How to Gain Life Minutes

What if we could quantify how the food we eat impacts not just our health, but how long we'll live? That very question appears to have been answered via a new study that evaluated nearly 6,000 foods, ranking them on how they impact human health and the environment.

Overall, replacing only 10 percent of caloric intake from beef and processed meats with fruits, vegetables, nuts, legumes and certain seafood (high in omega-3 fatty acids) lengthened average lifespan by a whopping 48 minutes – per day; not to mention a 33 percent reduction in dietary carbon footprint.

Reference

• Stylianou KS, et al. Small targeted dietary changes can yield substantial gains for human health and the environment. Nature Food, 2021;2:616-27.

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