Maintaining an active lifestyle in the elderly could prevent dementia

A new study conducted at the Rush University Medical Center has shown that staying active in old age can help maintain memory and thinking skills and reduce the risk of dementia.

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In a study of 454 older adults (191 with dementia and 263 who were unaffected), those who were more active than average had better memory and thinking skills than those who were less active than average. This was observed even in participants with physical signs of dementia, such as brain lesions or biomarkers of the disease.

People who moved more had better thinking and memory skills than those who were more sedentary and did not move much at all. "

Dr. Aron Buchman, Lead Author

As recently reported in the newspaper Neurologyparticipants have undergone annual physical exams as well as memory and reflection tests over the last 20 years.

They had agreed to donate their brains for research at their death, which occurred on average at age 91.

Two years before his death, Buchman and his team gave each participant a wrist-based accelerometer that monitored their physical activity 24 hours a day, from walking to home to more vigorous exercise.

The badysis of the participants' daily average activity scores showed that greater daily mobility was badociated with improved thinking and memory, compared with lesser daily mobility.

The badysis also showed that participants who demonstrated better motor skills (facilitating movement and coordination) achieved better results in memory and reflection tests.

We measured physical activity levels in study participants an average of two years prior to death, and then examined the brain tissue that had been given to them after death and found that a mode of more active life could have a protective effect on the brain. "

Dr. Aron Buchman, Lead Author

Further badysis showed that each increase in the standard deviation of physical activity was badociated with a reduced likelihood of developing dementia by 31%. He also showed that each increase in standard deviation of motor skills was badociated with a reduced likelihood of developing dementia by 55%.

The post-mortem badysis of the brain tissue given by the participants showed that this badociation between increased physical activity and better test results remained, even after adjusting for the severity of the brain lesions and the presence of biomarkers for Alzheimer's disease. .

"Exercise is an inexpensive way to improve health, and our study shows that it can have a protective effect on the brain," says Buchman.

However, it should be noted that the study does not provide evidence of cause and effect, he adds: "It is also possible that, when people lose their memory and the ability to think, they reduce their physical activity Additional studies are needed to determine if the move is really beneficial for the brain.