Research has found that being physically healthy promotes brain health, lowers the risk of dementia and can delay the onset of dementia by almost 18 months.
Regular exercise is very helpful in maintaining cognitive function and can even help reduce the risk of dementia by up to 35% in people who are genetically predisposed to developing dementia.
The findings add to the evidence that maintaining good health throughout life is an important way to reduce the likelihood of developing disease.
of Research published in the British Journal of Sports Medicinefound that people with the highest cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) also had higher cognitive function and lower risk of dementia.
Researchers analyzed the health status of 61,214 people aged 39 to 70 when they enrolled in the UK Biobank study in 2009-2010, none of whom had dementia at the time. Ta. They were followed for up to 12 years to see how their health progressed.
Upon participation, they took a six-minute exercise test while sitting on a stationary bike to assess their fitness. They also had their cognitive function measured with neuropsychological tests and their genetic likelihood of dementia estimated using polygenic testing to assess their risk of Alzheimer’s disease.
“Our study shows that higher CRF is associated with better cognitive function and lower dementia risk,” the researchers wrote in their paper.
“Additionally, high CRF may moderate the impact of genetic risk for all dementias by 35%.”
The researchers added that higher CRF was associated with “a lower risk of dementia and a 1.48-year delay in the onset of dementia in middle and older adulthood.”
The Swedish research team was led by Professor Weili Wu from the Center for Aging Research at the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm.
The dementia group said the study results were further proof that people can reduce their risk by maintaining a healthy lifestyle, for example by staying healthy and not smoking or drinking excessively.
“This study highlights that exercise is an important component of maintaining a healthy lifestyle and may reduce the risk of developing dementia later in life,” the Alzheimer’s Association’s said Dr. Richard Oakley, Associate Director of Research and Innovation.
“But what is particularly exciting about this study is that exercise may reduce the risk of dementia, even in people who have a high genetic risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease.”
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The Lancet medical journal’s committee on dementia: reported in july identified physical inactivity as one of 14 established factors that increase the risk of dementia. Others include hearing loss, low levels of education, air pollution, social isolation, and depression.
Dr Jackie Hanley, Head of Research at Alzheimer’s Research UK, said: “This new study shows how improved cardiovascular fitness, an important measure of overall health, can reduce the risk of developing dementia later in life. “This highlights how it could potentially be useful.”
“However, it is important to note that it is unclear whether there is a direct link between cardiovascular fitness and reduced dementia risk. How does it affect the brain? Further research is needed to know exactly.”
The researchers themselves emphasized that their findings were observational and did not necessarily prove a causal relationship between physical fitness and dementia risk.
However, the researchers nevertheless suggest that “strengthening CRF may be a strategy for dementia prevention, even in people with a high genetic predisposition to Alzheimer’s disease.”
