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According to research in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, regular exercise can postpone the start of dementia by eighteen months.
Research indicates that physical fitness reduces risk of dementia.
According to a British Journal of Sports Medicine article, regular exercise can delay the start of dementia by eighteen months.
Denis Campbell Editor of Health Policies
Exchange
Research has shown that physical fitness improves brain function, so reducing the risk of dementia and postponing almost 18 months of development of it.
Maintaining cognitive ability depends on regular exercise, thus it can even help those genetically more likely to develop dementia to lower their risk by up to 35%.
The results support the data showing that one of the main strategies to reduce the risk of acquiring the disease is keeping fit over the course of one's life.
The study, which was written up in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, revealed that those with the best cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) also had lower risk of dementia and better cognitive ability.
Between 2009 and 2010, 61,214 individuals between the ages of 39 and 70 registered in the UK Biobank study; none of them had dementia at the time of analysis. Their health was monitored for up to twelve years to track changes.
They started a six-minute exercise test seated on a stationary bike to gauge their fitness upon joining. Neuropsychological tests measured their cognitive ability as well as their genetic risk of dementia determined by a polygenic test, so evaluating the risk of Alzheimer's disease.
The researchers note in their paper "Our study shows that higher CRF is associated with better cognitive function and reduced dementia risk".
"Moreover, high CRF may buffer the impact of genetic risk of all dementia by 35%.”
Higher CRF is linked, they note, "lower risk of dementia and a delay in the onset of dementia across middle and older age" of 1.48 years.
Prof Weili Wu of the ageing research centre at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm oversaw the Swedish research team.
Dementia organisations claimed the results were more evidence that individuals could lower their risk by leading a healthy lifestyle, for example by keeping fit, not smoking, and not drinking to excess.
"This research underlines that exercise is an important part of maintaining a healthy lifestyle and could reduce the risk of developing dementia later in life," stated Dr Richard Oakley, the associate director of research and innovation at the Alzheimer's Society.
"But what is particularly hopeful about this study is that exercise also appears to lower dementia risk in people who have a higher genetic risk of developing Alzheimer's disease."
According to the July commission on dementia published in the Lancet medical journal, physical inactivity ranks among 14 known elements raising the risk of dementia. Others comprise low levels of education, air pollution, social isolation and depression as well as hearing loss.
"This new research highlights how good cardiorespiratory fitness, a key measure of overall physical health, could help lower the risk of developing dementia in the future," said head of research at Alzheimer's Research UK, Dr Jacqui Hanley.
"We do not, however, know whether cardiorespiratory fitness directly causes lowered dementia risk or vice versa. More study is required to ascertain precisely how it influences the brain.
The researchers themselves underlined that their results were observational and hence did not definitely establish a causal link between physical activity and dementia risk.
Still, they contend that "enhancing CRF could be a strategy for the prevention of dementia, even among people with a high genetic predisposition for Alzheimer's disease."
Maintaining cognitive ability depends on regular exercise, thus it can even help those genetically more likely to develop dementia to lower their risk by up to 35%.
The results support the data showing that one of the main strategies to reduce the risk of acquiring the disease is keeping fit over the course of one's life.
The study, which was written up in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, revealed that those with the best cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) also had lower risk of dementia and better cognitive ability.
Between 2009 and 2010, 61,214 individuals between the ages of 39 and 70 registered in the UK Biobank study; none of them had dementia at the time of analysis. Their health was monitored for up to twelve years to track changes.
They started a six-minute exercise test seated on a stationary bike to gauge their fitness upon joining. Neuropsychological tests measured their cognitive ability as well as their genetic risk of dementia determined by a polygenic test, so evaluating the risk of Alzheimer's disease.
The researchers note in their paper "Our study shows that higher CRF is associated with better cognitive function and reduced dementia risk".
"Moreover, high CRF may buffer the impact of genetic risk of all dementia by 35%.”
Higher CRF is linked, they note, "lower risk of dementia and a delay in the onset of dementia across middle and older age" of 1.48 years.
Prof Weili Wu of the ageing research centre at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm oversaw the Swedish research team.
Dementia organisations claimed the results were more evidence that individuals could lower their risk by leading a healthy lifestyle, for example by keeping fit, not smoking, and not drinking to excess.
"This research underlines that exercise is an important part of maintaining a healthy lifestyle and could reduce the risk of developing dementia later in life," stated Dr Richard Oakley, the associate director of research and innovation at the Alzheimer's Society.
"But what is particularly hopeful about this study is that exercise also appears to lower dementia risk in people who have a higher genetic risk of developing Alzheimer's disease."
According to the July commission on dementia published in the Lancet medical journal, physical inactivity ranks among 14 known elements raising the risk of dementia. Others comprise low levels of education, air pollution, social isolation and depression as well as hearing loss.
"This new research highlights how good cardiorespiratory fitness, a key measure of overall physical health, could help lower the risk of developing dementia in the future," said head of research at Alzheimer's Research UK, Dr Jacqui Hanley.
"We do not, however, know whether cardiorespiratory fitness directly causes lowered dementia risk or vice versa. More study is required to ascertain precisely how it influences the brain.
The researchers themselves underlined that their results were observational and hence did not definitely establish a causal link between physical activity and dementia risk.
Still, they contend that "enhancing CRF could be a strategy for the prevention of dementia, even among people with a high genetic predisposition for Alzheimer's disease."
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