DASH and Cognitive Health in Older Adults: Findings from the WA Memory Study. — The Association Specialists
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DASH and Cognitive Health in Older Adults: Findings from the WA Memory Study. (21598)

Carolina Blagojevic Castro 1 2 3 , Samantha Gardener 4 5 6 , Farzana Jahan 1 , Juliana Chen 7 8 , Belinda Brown 1 6 , Ruey-Leng Loo 1 9 , Ralph Martins 1 4 5 7 , Hamid Sohrabi 1 2 4 5 7
  1. Murdoch University, Perth, WA, Australia
  2. Centre for Healthy Ageing, Health Futures Institute, Murdoch University, Perth, WA
  3. Alzheimer’s Research Australia, Perth, WA
  4. Edith Cowan University, Perth, WA
  5. Alzheimer’s Research Australia, Perth, WA
  6. Lifestyle Approaches Towards Cognitive Health Research Group, Perth WA
  7. Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, Australia
  8. University of Sydney, Sydney NSW
  9. Australian National Phenome Center, and Center for Computational and Systems Medicine, Health Futures Institute, Perth WA

Objectives: Previous research has demonstrated that adherence to the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet is associated with improved cognitive function and a reduced risk of cognitive decline and Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Our study aimed to assess the association between the DASH diet and cognitive decline.

Methods: Cognitively unimpaired participants (n=196) from the Western Australia Memory Study (>60 years; 35% male) completed a food frequency questionnaire (baseline only) from which a DASH diet score was generated, and cognitive assessment at baseline and up to five additional timepoints at 18-month intervals.  A linear mixed effect model with random intercept was fitted to both cohorts including potential confounders, stratified by apolipoprotein E (APOE) genotype.  

Key findings: In APOE ɛ4 allele non-carriers, the DASH diet score was positively associated with a change in the verbal fluency measure Controlled Oral Word Association Test (COWAT) letter L (β=0.215; FDR adjusted p-value=0.033).

Conclusion: Greater baseline adherence to the DASH diet was associated with a reduced decline in verbal fluency in those at lower genetic risk of AD. Potentially, the benefits of the DASH diet are not sufficient to overcome the cognitive decline as a sign of increased risk of AD amongst carriers of the APOE ɛ4 allele. The study findings implicate the importance of a healthy diet in the context of brain health, prefacing randomized controlled trials investigating healthy dietary patterns and cognitive outcomes.