A research team led by Professor Hyejoo Son from Dankook University Hospital and Professor Jaeseung Kim from Seoul Asan Medical Center have discovered that maintaining a diligent attitude towards life can delay the onset of genetically-induced dementia. The study is the first in the world to demonstrate that lifestyle habits enhancing resilience can postpone the onset of hereditary dementia. This marks the first time it has been proven that the age at which symptoms of genetic dementia appear is not solely determined by genetic factors but can also be influenced by personal effort.
Dominant hereditary Alzheimer’s disease, a type of genetic dementia, typically manifests earlier than common dementia, often between the ages of 30 and 50, and accounts for less than 1% of all Alzheimer’s cases. It is caused by a genetic mutation and tends to occur at a similar age as in parents. While previous research has shown that maintaining healthy lifestyle habits enhances resilience, reducing the risk of dementia in the general elderly population, it was unclear if such non-genetic lifestyle factors could also delay the onset in hereditary dementia cases.
Resilience, generally defined as the ability to maintain peace of mind and manage daily life amid adversity, refers to sustaining memory and cognitive function in dementia research despite brain damage. Through the DIAN cohort international study from 2009 to 2018, the research team analyzed 529 hereditary dementia patients and their families using clinical and cognitive tests, measuring tau protein levels in cerebrospinal fluid, and examining exercise, social activities, life experiences, and behavioral patterns.
The study found that even when tau protein levels, a known primary cause of Alzheimer’s, were high, the “high resilience group” maintained cognitive function. They led cognitively active and socially integrated lives compared to the group showing dementia symptoms. Notably, a diligent life experience proved to be an independent factor that could delay the age of onset during the late preclinical stage, when the onset is imminent.
DIAN is a large-scale international clinical study that collects clinical and cognitive tests, brain imaging, blood and fluid samples from genetic dementia patients and their families, standardized decades before symptoms appear. The study involved over 20 esteemed dementia research institutes from 10 countries worldwide, including the Washington University School of Medicine in the U.S., Harvard Medical School, Mayo Clinic, the Australian Neuroscience Research Institute, the University of Tübingen, and Munich University in Germany. It is also significant as it marks the first presentation of a DIAN study by a Korean research institution.
Professor Hyejoo Son stated that diligence involves consistently striving to fulfill responsibilities towards oneself and others. It can be viewed as a high-level intelligence habit that maintains brain activity and purposefulness throughout a person’s life. Choosing and sustaining a diligent life is something anyone can do, regardless of socioeconomic status, as diligence is a critical dementia prevention factor controllable through personal will and effort. The research findings were published in the official journal of the American Academy of Neurology,