Dietary interventions optimized using machine learning can reduce the risk of dementia

The term dementia is used to describe a variety of debilitating neurological disorders characterized by progressive loss of memory and poor mental capacity. Estimates suggest that over 55 million people live with dementia worldwide, and that this number could rise further over the next decades.

Effective treatment for dementia is still limited, so medical researchers and neuroscientists are trying to identify factors associated with its emergence. This informed the development of an intervention aimed at preventing dementia or reducing the risk of its appearance.

Researchers at the University of Hudun, Zjiang University School of Medicine and other institutes have recently sought to use machine learning to devise more effective dietary interventions that may reduce the risk of experiencing dementia at the later stages of life. A newly developed intervention called Modern (Optimizing Machine Learning Support Dietary Interventions for Dementia Risk) was introduced in a paper on. Natural human behavior.

“Our research was motivated by the urgent need for effective dementia prevention strategies, particularly in light of the limited treatment options available now,” Professor Jintai Yu, the corresponding author of the paper, told Medical Xpress.

“While dietary modifications represent highly accessible and modifiable risk factors, existing dietary interventions often failed to demonstrate significant benefits in randomized controlled trials (RCTs). Our main objective was the primary objective.

Using machine learning and data from a large biomedical database known as the UK Biobank, Professor Yu and his colleagues sought to identify the best food combinations that could be associated with lowering the risk of dementia and improving brain health. The researchers specifically used a machine learning technique called LightGBM, which was trained on diet and health-related data collected from 185,012 people in the UK.

“Of the algorithms we tested, including Xgboost and Random Forest, LightGBM demonstrated excellent performance and achieved the highest area under the ROC curve (AUC),” explained Professor Jia You, co-author of the paper.

“By analyzing the predictive importance of different food groups, the model identified key dietary factors associated with dementia risk. These findings were translated into a practical dietary scoring system (modern) that emphasizes the limitations of adverse items such as moderate intake of brain health foods (e.g., leafy greens, berries) and sweetened rearing.

Modern, a new dietary intervention developed by Professor Yu and his colleagues using machine learning, has found that modernity is strongly associated with a lower risk of developing dementia than other dietary patterns previously associated with improved brain health. In particular, it was found to have more protective effects than the heart (Mediterranean intervention against neurodegeneration delay), an established dietary program for the prevention of neurodegeneration.

“In the three independent external validation cohorts, participants in the most modern diet score group showed a 36% lower risk of dementia than those in the lowest group,” said Dr. Sizia Chen, the first author of the paper. “Mechanical analysis revealed plausible neuroprotective pathways, including strengthening brain structure integrity and attenuation of neuroinflammation.”

The brain protective effects of new dietary interventions devised by Professor Yu and his colleagues could be further evaluated in real-world settings. Ultimately, it will be introduced in public health guidelines and integrated with existing dementia prevention efforts, and may contribute to the reduction of neurodegenerative diseases around the world.

“Today, we aim to conduct randomized controlled trials (RCTs) to examine modern diets across diverse populations and establish causal benefits of dementia prevention,” added Professor Yu.

“Beyond this, we will apply a similar data-driven approach to identify the optimal dietary patterns for other brain disorders, such as anxiety and depression. Ultimately, our long-term goal is to develop a unified, evidence-based dietary frame specifically designed to promote brain health and prevent neurological diseases.”

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