A small movement could help prevent dementia, even for vulnerable older adults, suggests a new study led by researchers from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
The researchers discovered that fulfilling only 35 minutes of moderate to powerful physical activity per week, compared to zero minutes per week, was associated with a 41% lower risk of developing dementia during an average follow-up period of four years. Even for vulnerable older adults that in an increased risk of adverse health results that were associated with lower dementia risks.
The researchers discovered that the risk of dementia decreased with higher amounts of physical activity. Dementia risks were 60% lower in participants in the 35 to 69.9 minutes of physical activity/week category; 63% lower in the category from 70 to 139.9 minutes/week; and 69% lower in the category 140 and more than minutes/week.
For their analysis, the researchers analyzed a data set for nearly 90,000 adults who live in the UK who wore smart-watch-type activities trackers.
The study was published online on January 15 in the Journal of the American Medical Directors Association.
Our findings suggest that increasing physical activity, even only five minutes a day, can reduce the risk of dementia in older adults. “
Amal Wanigatunga, PhD, MPH, Study Lead -author, Assistant Professor in the Bloomberg School’s Department of Epidemiology’s Department of Epidemiology
Wanigatunga is also a core faculty member at the Johns Hopkins Center for aging and health and has a joint appointment at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. “This contributes to a growing amount of evidence that some exercise is better than nothing, especially with regard to an aging -related disorder that influences the brain that currently has no healing.”
Dementia, usually from Alzheimer’s disease, is one of the most common disorders of old age. It is estimated that it is about seven million people in the US, including about a third of those who are 85 or older. Although the risk of dementia rises with age, studies have suggested in recent years that dementia can be prevented somewhat, within a normal lifetime, lifestyle changes that include better control of cholesterol, blood pressure and blood sugar and are more active.
The minimum amount of activity needed to reduce the risk of dementia is not yet clear. For many older people, in particular vulnerable, the large quantities of exercises that are recommended in official guidelines are unreachable and can discourage any exercise. Both the US Department of Health and Human Services and the UK National Health System recommend that adults receive at least 150 minutes of moderate intensity exercises per week, on average 20 minutes a day.
For their study, Wanigatunga analyzed data on British adults who were generated as part of the UK Biobank Project, a long -term, continuous study of around 500,000 people. The dataset for the new study included 89,667 adults, usually in the fifty and older, who used gear meters worn with a wrist to follow their physical activity for a week during the period from February 2013 to December 2015. The follow-up of their health status extensively an average of 4.4 years, until November 2021, in which 735 of the participants were diagnosed with dementia.
The analysis compared people whose trackers showed a weekly moderate to powerful physical activity with those whose trackers showed no and were responsible for age and other medical conditions. The associations between higher activity and a lower dementia risk were striking. Participants in the lowest activity category, ranging from one to 34.9 minutes per week, had a clear risk reduction of around 41%.
When the researchers took into account participants who met their definitions of vulnerability or ‘pre-frily’, they discovered that the association between more activity and less dementia was essentially unchanged.
“This suggests that even vulnerable or almost vulnerable older adults may be able to reduce their dementia risk by practicing a low dose,” says Wanigatunga.
Wanigatunga notes that the study was not a clinical study that established the causal link, indicating that exercise reduces the risk of dementia, but the findings are consistent with that hypothesis. To check the possibility that their findings reflected non-diagnosed dementia, which led to lower physical activity, the researchers repeated their analysis, but the diagnoses of dementia were released in the first two years of follow-up. The relationship between more activity and a lower dementia risk remained robust.
Wanigatunga and his colleagues recommend that future clinical studies of the type of low dose of low dose exercises are investigating as an important initial step to increase physical activity as a strategy for dementia prevention.
“Moderate to powerful physical activity With every dose, dementia risks of all causes, regardless of the vulnerable status” became co-author of Amal Wanigatunga, Yiwen Dong, Mu Jin, Andrew Leroux, Erjia Cui, Xinkai Zhou, Angela Zhao , Angela Zhao, Angela Zhao, Angela Zhao, Angela Zhao, Angela Zhao, Angela Zhao, Angela Zhao, Angela Zhao, Angela Zhao, Jennifer Schrack, Angela Zhao, Angela Zhao, Angela Zhao, Angela Zhao, Angela Zhao, Angela Zhao, Angela Zhao, Borna, Borna, Borna, Born, Born, Bana, B.A.A., B.A., BHAO, Angela Zhao, Angela Zhao, Angela Zhao, Angela Zhao, B.A.A, Angela Zhaoo, Angela Zhaoo, Angela Zhaoo. ,, ” Angela Zhao, Angela Zhao, Angela Zhao, Angela Zhao, Angela Zhao, Angela Zha, Angela Zhao, Jennifer Schraack, Karen Bandeen-Roche, Jeremy Walston, Qian-Li Xue, Martin Lindqist and Ciprian Cainiceanu.
Financing for the study was provided by the National Institute on Aging (K01 AG076967, R01 AG075883).
Source:
Journal Reference:
Wanigatunga, Aa, et al .. (2025). Moderate to powerful physical activity for each dose reduces dementia risks, regardless of vulnerable status. Journal of the American Medical Directors Association. doi.org/10.1016/j.jamda.2024.105456.