Recent studies suggest that lifestyle changes such as more physical activity may reduce dementia risk. Current recommendations to conduct 150 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity per week, however, can be challenging for older adults due to frailty. The researchers behind the current study thus investigated the dose-response relationship between moderate to vigorous physical activity and dementia risk among at-risk persons with and without frailty.
To do so, they analyzed data from the UK Biobank study including 89, 667 adults with a median age of 63 years old who wore wrist accelerometers to track their physical activity for a week. Follow-ups on their health status were extended for an average of 4.4 years, during which time 735 received a dementia diagnosis.
Ultimately, participants conducting moderate to vigorous exercise for just one to 34.9 minutes per week had a roughly 41% lower risk of developing dementia than those who performed no such exercise. They further found that those exercising between 35 and 69.9 minutes per week had a 60% lower risk of dementia. Meanwhile, exercising 70 to 139.9 minutes and over 140 minutes per week were linked to a 63% and 69% lower risk. The findings remained even after accounting for frailty.
"Our findings suggest that increasing physical activity, even as little as five minutes per day, can reduce dementia risk in older adults. This adds to a growing body of evidence that some exercise is better than nothing, especially with regard to an aging-related disorder that affects the brain that currently has no cure,” said lead author of the study, Amal Wanigatunga, PhD, MPH, assistant professor in the Department of Epidemiology at Johns Hopkins University in a press release.
The researchers recommend that future clinical trials investigate low-dose exercise as a step toward increasing physical activity to prevent dementia.
Sources: Science Daily, Journal of the American Medical Directors Association
