Does sustaining an active lifestyle in midlife lower the risk of dementia?
A study highlighted in Neurology in February 2019 reported that staying both physically and mentally active in midlife (40s) may protect the brain decades later.
The study involved 800 Swedish women with an average age of 47 who were followed for 44 years, and who were scored in two areas of mental and physical activities. Women who were assigned to high levels of mental activity were 46% less likely to have developed Alzheimer's disease and 34% less likely to have developed dementia overall than the women in the group which performed lower levels of the mental activity practices. With regards to physical activity, 52% of the women in the study were less likely to have developed a type of dementia associated with cerebrovascular (refers to blood flow in the brain) disease and 56% less likely to have developed more general dementia than the women in the group who remained less physically active.
While the results indicate that levels of both physical and mental activities could affect cognition later, physician and study author Jenna Najar of the Institute for Neuroscience and Physiology at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden, noted that physical activity may lower chances of vascular dementia in particular. The study鈥檚 conclusions also showed how the two effects 鈥 mental and physical activity聽鈥 are distinct. As Najar put it, 鈥淲e found that mental activities in midlife such as reading a book, doing crossword puzzles, singing or visiting concerts, to name a few, reduced the risk of dementia and Alzheimer鈥檚 disease, regardless of how physically active the women were. Physical activity, meanwhile, in midlife reduced the risk of more vascular forms of dementia, regardless of how mentally active the women were.鈥
Experts agree that more studies need to be conducted to find the physical pathway connecting lifestyle factors in midlife to specific protective effects in the brain. Brain health has long been promoted for overall aging and cognitive health, and in that respect, the study was a confirmation and offered more validity that being mentally and physically active can lower the risks of cognitive decline in aging. While research is still developing, strong evidence exists that individuals can reduce their risk of cognitive decline by making key lifestyle changes, including participating in regular physical and mental activity, staying socially engaged and maintaining good heart health.
According to the Healthy Brain Initiative by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 鈥減ublic health's role in maintaining cognitive health is a vital part of healthy aging and quality of life is emerging." Public health professionals are gaining a better understanding of brain disorders and risk factors and the public health community should embrace cognitive health as a priority.