The foundation is funding 18 projects through its grants program, worth $2.4 million in total.
Ashleigh Smith from the University of South Australia said the $365,000 grant would enable her team to create dementia prevention strategies specifically tailored for rural and regional communities.
“We know there are 12 modifiable risk factors for dementia including smoking, diet, exercise and social isolation and we have collected good data on how these risk factors impact people living in Australian cities. This fellowship will enable us to go to regional and rural areas to collect data around these risk factors,” Dr Smith said.
“People living in rural and regional communities don’t want city-based solutions. By co-designing the toolkit with people living in rural and regional communities, we will ensure the toolkit is acceptable and aimed at extending healthy life and delaying dementia onset in Australians who live outside major cities.”
Alby Elias from the University of Melbourne will lead a study examining whether intermittent fasting can reduce the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease, thanks to a $75,000 grant.
Intermittent fasting, or time restricted eating, involves not eating any food for periods of between 12 and 24 hours between meals. It has been shown to have several health benefits, including improved blood vessel health and reduced inflammation.
“Intermittent fasting also has a range of benefits for several health conditions, including obesity, arthritis, diabetes and high blood pressure. But so far no human studies have been conducted looking at fasting and Alzheimer’s disease,” Dr Elias said.
“Animal studies have demonstrated that intermittent fasting was associated with removal of the beta-amyloid protein from the brain, the hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease.”
Dr Elias said the first step was to work with clinicians and people at risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease to design a trial that was safe and achievable for participants.
