Women with heart healthy diets during middle age were about 17 per cent less likely to report memory loss and other signs of cognitive decline decades later, a new study has revealed.

Led by researchers from NYU Grossman School of Medicine, the new findings suggest that a mid-life lifestyle modification – adoption of the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension, or DASH diet – may improve cognitive function later in life for women, who make up more than two-thirds of those diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease.