This is the 61st instalment in a series on dementia, including the research into its causes and treatment, advice for carers, and stories of hope.
You are never too old to start exercising: science says that even in your mid-sixties – and beyond – exercise will make a big difference to your brain.
A study by a team at Johns Hopkins University in the United States, which analysed the exercise habits of almost 90,000 adults with a median age of 63, found that every extra half-hour of exercise over the average weekly 126 minutes was associated with a four per cent reduction in the risk of developing dementia.
Amal Wanigatunga, assistant professor of epidemiology at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and lead author of the study, says the findings show that any amount of moderate to vigorous physical activity, or MVPA, can help lower the risk of dementia.
The human body is incredibly adaptable at any age
Examples of moderate exercises include brisk walking or cycling; vigorous ones – that produce larger increases in breathing and heart rate – include jogging, aerobic dance or cycling uphill.
The hypothesis, Wanigatunga says, is that MVPA “triggers multiple biological processes that help to slow down cognitive decline or even enhance cognition, both of which play a role in the dementia risk reduction”.