Study of women over 50 suggests how to cut dementia risk by 90 percent.
Being physically fit in middle age reduces the risk of developing dementia by 90 percent, research finds.
Highly fit women were followed for over four decades in the Swedish study.
Their 90 percent lower dementia risk was in comparison to moderately fit women.
Even if highly fit women did develop dementia, its onset was, on average, 11 years later.
Dr Helena Hörder, the study’s first author, said:
“These findings are exciting because it’s possible that improving people’s cardiovascular fitness in middle age could delay or even prevent them from developing dementia.
However, this study does not show cause and effect between cardiovascular fitness and dementia, it only shows an association.
More research is needed to see if improved fitness could have a positive effect on the risk of dementia and also to look at when during a lifetime a high fitness level is most important.”
The study involved 191 women over 50 who took a bicycle test, in which they continued until they were exhausted.
Women who had to stop due to high blood pressure, chest pains or other problem were 45 percent more likely to develop dementia decades later.
Dr Hörder said:
“This indicates that negative cardiovascular processes may be happening in midlife that could increase the risk of dementia much later in life.”
The study was published in the journal Neurology (Hörder et al., 2018).
