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Mindful Awareness Practice and Changes in Telomere Length

Dementia PreventionFeatured Article

Nature

Mind Science Centre’s research found increased telomere length in older adults with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) following intervention with either Health Education Programme (HEP) or Mindful Awareness Practice (MAP).

Telomeres are the genetic material that protect the end of our chromosomes from degradation and help maintain genomic stability. As such, telomere lengths have been acknowledged as a general biomarker of physical health.

What is telomere shortening?

Telomere shortening happens naturally as we age. It happens due to exposure to oxidative and inflammatory stress factors, amongst many others. Shorter telomeres limit the number of times cells can divide. Consequently, this triggers cell death (apoptosis) and decreases the population of cells in vital organs.

Past research also found that telomere shortening is associated with greater neurodegeneration leading to progressive atrophy and loss of function of neurons and consequently associated with declining cognitive functions.

RCT to Examine the Impact of Mindful Awareness Practice on Telomere Length

A randomised controlled trial (RCT) was undertaken to compare the effects of HEP and MAP in older adults and various biomarkers including MRI brain scans, gene expression, inflammatory biomarkers, gut bacteria profile, and telomere length were examined.

Participants were randomised to the 2 interventions, with weekly sessions for the first 3 months, followed by monthly sessions for the next 6 months. Associate Prof Goh Lee Gan and other medical professionals were instrumental in preparing the Health Education Programme (HEP). The Mindful Awareness Programme (MAP), was prepared in collaboration with the late Mr Wee Sin Tho.

Telomere Study Results

While an increase in telomere length was noted in both the HEP and MAP groups, it was slightly more in the MAP group.

However, as the frequency of the intervention was reduced from weekly to monthly, the effect was not sustained for both groups.

Regardless, this finding is important as it shows that both intervention programmes have the potential to slow or even reverse cognitive decline in older adults, albeit in a frequency-dependant manner.

Translating the Research: Age Well Everyday Programme

At Mind Science Centre, we place value in translating the evidence-based knowledge we have into community programmes that would have a direct impact on the population.

Results from this study became the base of the Mind Science Centre’s flagship programme: Age Well Everyday (AWE). AWE holistically encompasses a series of community activities for seniors to engage in active ageing, including:

Health education
Mindfulness practice
Art and music reminiscence
Gardening
Choral Singing
Exercise and more.

Our research showed evidence of improved cognitive function (Fam et al., 2020; Yu et al., 2021), gut bacteria profiles (Khine et al., 2020), telomere lengths (Yu et al., 2020), and inflammatory biomarkers (Ng, 2020) following the interventions. Click here for more details on Mind Science Centre’s Jurong Ageing Study.

Yu, J., Kanchi, M. M., Rawtaer, I., Feng, L., Kumar, A. P., Kua, E.-H., & Mahendran, R. (2020). The functional and structural connectomes of telomere length and their association with cognition in mild cognitive impairment. Cortex, 132, 29–40. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cortex.2020.08.006

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