Study finds personalized coaching could help prevent Alzheimer's

BOSTON - A personalized coaching approach could help prevent Alzheimer's in people at risk of developing the disease.

A team at the University of California, San Francisco recruited 172 adults between the ages of 70 and 89 with at least two dementia risk factors such as physical inactivity, uncontrolled high blood pressure or diabetes, smoking, poor sleep, and social isolation.  

Half chose the risk factors they wanted to address and had personalized coaching sessions every few months to review their goals. 

The other half regularly received general educational materials.  

After two years, the participants who received the personalized coaching had modest improvements in cognitive testing, a 145% improvement in risk factors, and an 8% improvement in quality of life compared to the control group.  

The researchers say this personalized approach could help improve mental function and help prevent the mental decline associated with Alzheimer's disease.

In:
• Health
• Dementia
• Alzheimer's Disease

Mallika Marshall, MD

Mallika Marshall, MD is an Emmy-award-winning journalist and physician who has served as the HealthWatch Reporter for CBS Boston/WBZ-TV for over 20 years. A practicing physician Board Certified in both Internal Medicine and Pediatrics, Dr. Marshall serves on staff at Harvard Medical School and practices at Massachusetts General Hospital at the MGH Chelsea Urgent Care and the MGH Revere Health Center, where she is currently working on the frontlines caring for patients with COVID-19. She is also a host and contributing editor for Harvard Health Publications (HHP), the publishing division of Harvard Medical School.

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