Walking Helps Prevent Dementia
December 21st, 2007 Posted by: Dr. Cox
(Ivanhoe Newswire) â Walking may be just as good for your mind as it is for your body.
A new study from Italy finds people age 65 and older who regularly walk and do other kinds of moderate exercise seem to greatly lower their risk of vascular dementia â the second most common type of dementia after Alzheimerâs disease.
Researchers looked at 749 men and women in Italy over age 65 who did not have memory problems when the study began. They measured the amount of energy participants exerted every week in their physical activities which included walking, climbing stairs, and moderate activities such as house and yard work, gardening, and light carpentry. By the end of the four-year study 54 people developed Alzheimerâs; 27 developed vascular dementia.
Results show the top one-third of those who exerted the most energy walking were 27 percent less likely to develop vascular dementia than the bottom one-third; participants in the top one-third for the most energy exerted in moderate activities lowered their risk by 29 percent; and those in the top one-third for total physical activity lowered their risk by 24 percent.
âItâs important to note that an easy-to-perform moderate activity like walking provided the same cognitive benefits as other, more demanding activities,â study author Giovanni
Ravaglia, M.D., Bologna, Italy, was quoted as saying.
Ravaglia says physical activity may improve cerebral blood flow and lower the risk of cerebrovascular disease â a risk factor for vascular dementia â but more research is needed.
This study also contradicted other reports â it found physical activity did not reduce the risk of Alzheimerâs disease. Ravaglia says more research is needed on that too before making a final conclusion.
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SOURCE: Neurology, published online Dec. 19, 2007