Exercise has myriad benefits, from weight management and reduced risk of chronic diseases to better sleep and lower blood pressure. But it also has a profound impact on your mental health. Now, new research suggests it can significantly reduce your risk of dementia. And it doesn't need to be a grueling HIIT workout or time-intensive workout program.
As little as 35 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous intensity physical activity (MVPA) every week could lower the risk of developing dementia by 41 percent, according to a recently released study from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
MVPA refers to any activity that increases breathing and heart rate. This could be a brisk morning walk to a bicycle ride. This form of exercise is associated with lowered mortality risk, bettering cardiovascular health, and more.
For the study, researchers collected data from the UK Biobank of nearly 90,000 adults who were around 50 years old or older and wore wrist accelerometers. To start, the researchers followed the volunteers for one week between 2013 and 2015 with the follow-up of their health extending for 4.4 years on average. During the follow-up period, 735 of the participants were diagnosed with dementia.
The researchers compared the exercise patterns of study participants—no weekly exercise, some moderate exercise, and vigorous physical activity. They found that every 30-minute higher MVPA session added to a weekly exercise program was associated with a 4% reduction in the risk of all-cause dementia. However, the reduction percentage drops off after 70 minutes weekly.
Once they analyzed the data, researchers found those in the category with the lowest amount of exercise ranging from 1 to 34.9 minutes per week, had an apparent risk reduction of about 41 percent.
“Our findings suggest that increasing physical activity, even as little as five minutes per day, can reduce dementia risk in older adults,” lead author Amal Wanigatunga, PhD, MPH, said in a statement. “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.”
Given the age of the participants, the researchers also took into account the individuals who were in the frail or pre-frail categories—a health condition that prior research has shown increases the risk of dementia. They found that even when these individuals exercised more, their risk for dementia was essentially unchanged.
"This suggests that even frail or nearly frail older adults might be able to reduce their dementia risk through low-dose exercise," Wanigatunga says.
The researchers noted in the statement that the study was not a clinical trial and therefore could not establish causation indicating that exercise reduces dementia risk. However, their findings were consistent with the above hypothesis.
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