A new study revealed that maintaining physical fitness can help lower the risk of dementia.
It can also slow down the progression of disease by delaying its onset up to 18 months by keeping the brain healthy.
The study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine revealed that individuals with the highest level of cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) also had a better cognitive function and lower risk of dementia.
Regular exercise is no doubt a game-changer for the human body and is also effective for brain health as well.
It can reduce the risk of dementia by up to 35%, even for those with a genetic predisposition.
The researchers analyze the health of 61,214 people, aged 39 to 70, who enrolled in the UK Biobank study between 2009 and 2010 and had no dementia at that time as they were monitored for up to 12 years to observe how their health progressed.
The researchers wrote in their paper, “Our study shows that higher CRF is associated with better cognitive function and decreased dementia risk. Moreover, high CRF may buffer the impact of genetic risk of all dementia by 35%.”
It added, “Higher CRF is associated with lower risk of dementia and a delay in the onset of dementia across middle and older age of 1.48 years.”
Dementia organizations emphasised that these findings provide further evidence that a healthy lifestyle such as regular exercise, not smoking and reduced alcohol consumption can help reduce the risk.
