Researchers at Wake Forest University School of Medicine have found evidence that lifestyle behaviors such as healthy eating and exercise can slow aging as part of a large clinical trial.
The new discovery was published in this month’s issue Gerontology Journal, This study builds on the Alzheimer’s Association’s Protecting Brain Health through Risk-Reducing Lifestyle Interventions (US POINTER) study. This study is the first large-scale clinical trial to demonstrate that an accessible intervention that constitutes a healthy lifestyle can protect cognitive function.
In a new paper, researchers found that these healthy behaviors also reduce frailty, an important measure in aging research and a marker of the aging process. Frailty reflects health challenges that accumulate in the body over time and is strongly associated with risks of chronic disease, disability, and mortality.
These findings suggest that adopting accessible healthy behaviors may help slow important aspects of aging. ”
Dr. Mark A. Espeland, first author, Professor of Gerontology, Gerontology, and Internal Medicine, Wake Forest University School of Medicine
The two-year, randomized US POINTER trial divided more than 2,100 adults ages 60 to 79 at high risk of cognitive decline into two groups. One group followed a structured program that included regular check-ins that incorporated coaching, goal setting, healthy eating, regular exercise, and brain-stimulating social activities. The other group followed a more voluntary approach to health.
Researchers from Advocate Health’s academic core, the School of Medicine, found that the group that followed the structured program had greater improvements in overall health and frailty than the other groups. Both groups improved their frailty scores, but the group that followed the structured program saw greater improvement.
“This shows the benefits of taking a systematic approach to a healthy lifestyle,” Espeland said. “We know that exercise and eating right improve your health, but making an effort to participate in a program that provides guidance and accountability can be especially effective in staying healthy as you age.”
Although participants in the structured program also showed significant improvements in cognitive performance, the researchers found that improvements in frailty alone did not fully explain the brain benefits also seen in this trial, suggesting multiple pathways to healthy aging.
“These results add to the evidence that targeting multiple areas of health simultaneously, rather than focusing on a single behavior, may be key to maintaining independence and quality of life later in life,” Espeland added.
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Wake Forest University School of Medicine
Reference magazines:
Espeland, Massachusetts others. (2026) The relative impact of a multidomain lifestyle intervention on deficit-accumulating frailty over 24 months in the US POINTER trial. Journal of Gerontology: Series A. DOI: 10.1093/gerona/glag094. https://academic.oup.com/biomedgerontology/article/81/5/glag094/8614600
