The study, which included 49,841 men and women over the age of 60, “supports the idea that increased sedentary time increases the risk of dementia,” said Professor of Neurology at Boston University, director of Management. said Andrew Budson, author of “The 7 Steps.” Your aging memory not involved in the study.
The results also highlight how far-reaching the effects of sitting can be, affecting not only the body but also the mind, and exercise alone is not enough to protect us. suggests that it is possible.
The dangers of sitting too much
The downsides of sitting too much are well known to most people, not just scientists. Previous studies have shown that people who sit all day long and spend hours at a time in front of a TV or computer at the office, on their commute, or at home are more likely to develop the disease. Heart disease, obesity, Diabetes other diseases and die young than someone who stands up and moves around frequently.
Sitting can even prevent you from exercising. Other recent research shows that people who spend the entire day sitting after exercising end up erasing some of the expected metabolic benefits of exercise.
But whether sitting affects brain health similarly is less clear. Several studies have linked sitting to later memory problems, including Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia. But they rely primarily on people’s memory of how long they’ve been sitting, which can be quite inaccurate.
So for the new study, scientists at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles and other universities sought objective measures of sitting posture, using a large scale of data on lives, health and mortality for hundreds of thousands of people. I discovered it at the UK Biobank, where it is stored. About British men and women.
Many of the Biobank participants wore sophisticated activity trackers for a week after joining the study, recording detailed information about their movements and rest throughout the day.
The researchers extracted records from approximately 50,000 men and women over the age of 60 who did not have dementia at the time they participated in the study.
With the help of artificial intelligence algorithms that can interpret the tracker readings, scientists determined whether people were moving or sitting every minute of the day. I sit or lie down, but I’m not sleeping.
Sitting for 10 hours increases brain risk
They then looked at people’s health over the next seven years or so, searching for hospitalization and death records detailing all kinds of dementia diagnoses.
Finally, we cross-checked sitting habits and brain health. And they found a strong correlation.
If men and women sat for at least 10 hours a day (and many of them did), their risk of developing dementia in the next seven years was lower than if they sat for less than 10 hours. It was 8% higher.
The risks escalate from there, with a 63 percent increased risk of dementia for those who spent at least 12 hours in a chair.
David Reichlen, a professor of biological sciences and anthropology at the University of Southern California, says, “If you sit in an office all day, and then you sit in front of the TV or in your car or any other way you sit, you end up sitting… I’ll put it away,” he says. , he led the new study. “At these extreme levels of sedentary behavior, the risk of cognitive and memory decline is thought to be much higher.”
Even if you exercise, sitting still won’t go away.
Surprisingly, the researchers Little benefit from exercise was found.
People who sat in a chair for more than 10 hours after exercising were just as likely to develop dementia as those who didn’t exercise at all.
“It seems like there is no way to exercise risk avoidance,” Reichlen said.
What about standing desks or walk breaks?
The same was true for walking and other short breaks. After controlling for other factors, the researchers found little improvement among people who interrupted their sitting with breaks. Getting up and walking around or sitting for more than 10 hours a day didn’t significantly change your risk. What ultimately mattered was how many total hours a person spent sitting in a chair during the day.
However, questions remain about standing vs. standing desks, as it’s not always easy to distinguish between sitting and standing in activity tracker data. Although standing is not generally considered a sedentary behavior, it is unclear from this study whether it can reduce the brain risks of sitting.
Reichlen said the best way to reduce the risk of dementia is to find ways to reduce the amount of time you spend sitting overall. “The people in our study who were sedentary for 9.5 hours a day did not see an increased risk,” he says.
If your job requires a lot of desk work or computer time, look for opportunities to get physically active during the day. Stroll around the office while you’re on the phone. Plan a walking meeting. Pick up your lunch instead of having it delivered.
Try recording the amount of time you spend without moving. Once you reach or exceed 10, Raichlen says, increase the amount of movement and decrease the amount of zoom.
Of course, this study is relevant and cannot prove that sitting causes cognitive decline. I also don’t know how the two are related.
Reichlen said that “there is some suggestion that sitting affects cerebral blood flow, reducing the supply of oxygen and fuel to the brain.” Sitting for hours, especially in front of the TV, can also lead to snacking and eating poorly, which can affect your long-term brain health.
But the reassuring news about sitting too much is that it can be reversed, Reichlen says. “Sit less and move more. That’s the message, and we probably can’t repeat it enough.”
Have fitness questions? Email [email protected] I may answer your question in a future column.
