Walking at least 6 miles per week ‘can reduce Alzheimer’s risk’
October 14th, 2010 - 1:26 pm ICT by ANIWashington, Oct 14 (ANI): Want to keep your brain sharp in old age? Well, go for a stroll then, for a new study suggests that walking at least six miles per week may protect brain size and in turn, preserve your memory later in life.
“Brain size shrinks in late adulthood, which can cause memory problems. Our results should encourage well-designed trials of physical exercise in older adults as a promising approach for preventing dementia and Alzheimer’s disease,” said study author Kirk I. Erickson, PhD, with the University of Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh.
For the study, 299 dementia-free people recorded the number of blocks they walked in one week. Then nine years later, scientists took brain scans of the participants to measure their brain size. After four more years, the participants were tested to see if they had developed cognitive impairment or dementia.
The study found that people who walked at least 72 blocks per week, or roughly six to nine miles, had greater gray matter volume than people who didn’t walk as much, when measured at the nine-year time point after their recorded activity. Walking more than 72 blocks did not appear to increase gray matter volume any further.
By four years later, 116 of the participants, or 40 percent, had developed cognitive impairment or dementia. The researchers found that those who walked the most cut their risk of developing memory problems in half.
“If regular exercise in midlife could improve brain health and improve thinking and memory in later life, it would be one more reason to make regular exercise in people of all ages a public health imperative,” said Erickson.
The study has been published in the October 13, 2010, online issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. (ANI)
- Walking helps retain memory in old age - Oct 14, 2010
- Moderate physical exercise in older adults shown to improve memory - Feb 01, 2011
- Changes in walking speed could signal dementia - Jun 12, 2012
- Computer-exercise combo prevents memory loss - May 02, 2012
- Exercise may help stave off mental decline - Jan 12, 2010
- Healthy older brains not smaller than younger ones - Sep 08, 2009
- People with thin brain structure 'at greater risk for Alzheimer's' - Apr 14, 2011
- Study reveals that Sleep apnea is linked to dementia - Aug 10, 2011
- Briskness of walk in middle-age foretells stroke risk - Feb 16, 2012
- Brain exercises may be good initially, but speed up dementia later - Sep 02, 2010
- Fat levels in blood may lead to Alzheimer's - Jul 19, 2012
- Brain size linked to early Alzheimer's risk - Dec 28, 2011
- Exercise reduces dementia risk - Sep 08, 2011
- Ginkgo doesn't seem to slow brain decline - Dec 30, 2009
- A fishy diet could stave off Alzheimer's risk - Dec 01, 2011
Tags: american academy, brain health, brain scans, brain size, cognitive impairment, dementia, erickson, four more years, free people, gray matter, late adulthood, medical journal, memory problems, nine miles, older adults, physical exercise, promising approach, six miles, study author, time point