Publications

The Mediterranean diet (MedDiet) has been associated with better brain health and reduced incidence of dementia. Few studies have compared the effects of the MedDiet in early Alzheimer's disease or compared the effects of the diet within and outside of the Mediterranean region. The Mediterranean diet adherence screener (MEDAS) and MEDAS continuous scores were calculated at the baseline visit of the European Prevention of Alzheimer's Dementia Longitudinal Cohort Study (n = 1625). The scores were included in linear regression models to test for associations with hippocampal volume, log-transformed white matter lesion volume, cerebrospinal fluid pTau ₁₈ , and Aβ ₄₂ . Higher MEDAS scores were associated with lower log-transformed white matter lesion volume (β: -0.07, standard error [SE]: 0.02, p < 0.001). This association was only seen in the Mediterranean region (β: -0.12, SE: 0.03, p < 0.001). In the non-Mediterranean region, higher MEDAS continuous scores were associated with lower cerebrospinal fluid Aβ ₄₂  (β: -68.30, SE: 14.32, p < 0.001). More research is needed to understand the differences in the associations seen with the MedDiet and Alzheimer's disease biomarkers in different European regions.

Background and aims: The Mediterranean diet (MedDiet) has been associated with better cardiovascular health in a number of studies. This study aimed to explore cross-sectional associations between MedDiet adherence in the PREVENT Dementia (PREVENT) programme, stratified by sex.

Methods and results: Three MedDiet scores were calculated (MEDAS, MEDAS continuous and Pyramid) alongside a Western diet score. We used linear regression and linear mixed effects models to test for associations between the MEDAS score and cardiovascular health. Propensity scores were calculated to strengthen causality inferences from the data, and used as covariates along with total energy intake and Western diet scores. Exploratory analysis repeated the linear regression models for each individual food component. This study included 533 participants, with a mean age 51.25 (±5.40) years, and a majority of women (60.0%). Women had higher MedDiet scores across all three scoring methods, had a lower Western diet score and consumed fewer total calories. Higher MedDiet scores were associated with lower blood pressure, body mass index (BMI) and lower cardiovascular risk scores. When stratified by sex, women had significant positive associations between MedDiet scores and lower blood pressure, BMI and glycemia, whereas men only had a significant association with lower BMI.

Conclusion: There were significant associations between higher MedDiet scores and a number of cardiovascular health outcome measures. These associations were seen more consistently for women compared to men, which may have implications for the development of personalised nutritional recommendations to improve cardiovascular health.

Introduction: Women are significantly more likely to develop Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (ADRD) than men. Suggestions to explain the sex differences in dementia incidence have included the influence of sex hormones with little attention paid to date as to the effect of hormonal contraception on brain health. The aim of this scoping review is to evaluate the current evidence base for associations between hormonal contraceptive use by women and non-binary people in early adulthood and brain health outcomes.

Methods: A literature search was conducted using EMBASE, Medline and Google Scholar, using the keywords "hormonal contraception" OR "contraception" OR "contraceptive" AND "Alzheimer*" OR "Brain Health" OR "Dementia".

Results: Eleven papers were identified for inclusion in the narrative synthesis. Studies recruited participants from the UK, USA, China, South Korea and Indonesia. Studies included data from women who were post-menopausal with retrospective data collection, with only one study contemporaneously collecting data from participants during the period of hormonal contraceptive use. Studies reported associations between hormonal contraceptive use and a lower risk of ADRD, particularly Alzheimer's disease (AD), better cognition and larger grey matter volume. Some studies reported stronger associations with longer duration of hormonal contraceptive use, however, results were inconsistent. Four studies reported no significant associations between hormonal contraceptive use and measures of brain health, including brain age on MRI scans and risk of AD diagnosis.

Discussion: Further research is needed on young adults taking hormonal contraceptives, on different types of hormonal contraceptives (other than oral) and to explore intersections between sex, gender, race and ethnicity.

An active lifestyle has been associated with better cognitive performance in many studies. However, most studies have focused on leisure activities or paid work, with less consideration of the kind of prosocial activities, many people engage in, including volunteering, grandparenting, and family care. In the present study, based on four waves of the German Ageing Survey ( N  = 6,915, aged 40-85 at baseline), we used parallel growth curves to investigate the longitudinal association of level and change in volunteering, grandparenting, and family care with level and change in processing speed. Given the gendered nature of engagement in these activities over the life span, we tested for gender differences in the associations. Only volunteering was reliably associated with higher speed of processing at baseline, no consistent longitudinal associations were found. Our results show that although prosocial activities are of great societal importance, expectations of large rewards in terms of cognitive health may be exaggerated