Health Tips - Walking regularly can delay dementia amongst old people
Walking regularly can delay dementia amongst old people
There is evidence showing we can preserve the size of our brain and improve our fading memory just by walking regularly at least 12 kilometres per week.
That’s according to a study supported by the National Institute on Aging. The research is published in the October 13, 2010, online issue of the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
For the study, 299 dementia-free people with an average age 78 recorded the number of blocks they walked per 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 grey 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 grey 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.
“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.