Women who stay fit in middle age are 88 per cent less likely to develop dementia, study claims
WOMEN who stay fit in middle age are 88 per cent less likely to develop dementia, a study shows.
If they do get the disease, it is at 90 years old instead of 79.
Researchers monitored 191 women with an average age of 50 as they pedalled on an exercise bike until they were exhausted.
Their fitness level was rated as high, moderate, or low based on their power output.
They were then tested for dementia six times over the next 44 years, during which time 44 were diagnosed with the disease.
Five per cent of the women in the highest fitness category developed dementia, 25 per cent of the moderately fit, and 32 per cent with low fitness.
Some 45 per cent of those who were so unfit that they could not finish the test developed the disease.
Analysis revealed the highly fit women were 88 percent less likely to develop dementia than those who were moderately fit.
Study leader Dr Helena Horder, from the University of Gothenburg, in Sweden, described the findings as “exciting."
She added: it’s possible that improving people’s cardiovascular fitness in middle age could delay or even prevent them from developing dementia.”
Future research will examine when in your life exercise has the biggest impact on future risk of dementia.
Dr David Reynolds, from Alzheimer’s Research UK, said: “While studies like this can’t definitively show cause and effect, it adds to research suggesting that middle age is the key time for people to take steps to promote their brain health.
“Physical exercise doesn’t necessarily mean going to the gym or running a marathon, but something that can easily be fitted in as part of the normal routine, like a jog or a brisk walk with friends.
“We need to see research that builds on findings like this and drives progress towards practical, evidence-based strategies that could help people reduce their risk of dementia.”
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There are 850,000 people living with dementia in the UK and set to be over 1million by 2025.
Dr Tim Shakespeare, from the Alzheimer’s Society, said: “While the results are promising, and provide much-needed motivation to jump on the exercise bike, it’s important to bear in mind the number of people in this study was small and it only involved women, so it’s not clear if we’d see the same results in men.”
The findings are published in the journal Neurology.
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