A recent study has indicated that in older adults, slower walking pace could serve as an early indicator of dementia.
The research conducted by the University of Minnesota and Monash discovered that as brain deteriorates, the walking ability becomes a challenge.
In addition to this, the study also observed individuals over the age of 75 and found that those who lost 0.05 meters per second in walking speed, exhibited the signs of cognitive decline.
The reason of decline is that it affects the brain areas responsible for walking and pace.
Over seven years, the study followed 17,000 old adults assessing their walking speed and cognitive abilities every two year, which reveals that those with declines in both areas were at greater risk of dementia.
As per the Daily Record, the study found no clear link between walking speed and dementia risk.
However it shows that those individuals who slowed down without cognitive decline had a high risk comparing those whose speed remained constant.
A biostatistician Dr Taya Collyer from Monash University concluded the study mentioning "Association between [brain] domains, such as processing speed and verbal fluency, with gait have been explained by the crossover in the underlying networks or pathology"
Notably, around 55 million people across the world are suffering from dementia.
