Cycling significantly decreases dementia risk by an astonishing 88%, according to a 44-year long study
================================================================================
A new study has found that high cardiovascular fitness, as measured by a maximal cycling test, is associated with a significantly lower long-term risk of dementia in women. Women classified as high fitness had about an 88% lower risk of developing dementia over 44 years compared with women of medium fitness.
The study, published in the journal Neurology, involved 1462 women aged 38 to 60, with 191 of them completing a maximal cycling test on a stationary bike. The women's peak workload achieved at exhaustion during the cycling test was recorded and used as a marker for their maximal cardiovascular fitness level.
The researchers assessed dementia status repeatedly over four decades, using neuropsychiatric exams, informant interviews, and hospital records. They considered socioeconomic factors, like income and education, as well as the women's diets, smoking habits, and any existing illnesses.
Only 5% of the highly fit women, based on the scores in the cycling tests at the beginning of the study, developed dementia. High fitness delayed the age of dementia onset by 9.5 years.
However, it's important to note that the study is observational and cannot prove causation. High fitness may be a marker for other protective factors rather than the direct cause. Furthermore, fitness was estimated from peak cycling workload rather than VO2 max, and the test sample was a subset of the cohort.
The study only involved Swedish women beginning in the late 1960s, which may limit its generalisability to other populations or to men.
Building cardiovascular fitness can be achieved through various activities, such as swimming, running, and fast walking, in addition to cycling. More research is needed to confirm the findings on the benefits of fitness for dementia prevention.
Staying fit and healthy as you get older is beneficial for both physical and mental health.
[1] The original Neurology paper [2] DOI: 10.1212/WNL.0000000000002286 [3] Commentary on the study
- Engaging in fitness-and-exercise activities like swimming, running, or fast walking, apart from cycling, may help improve health-and-wellness by reducing the long-term risk of dementia, as evidenced in a study published in the Journal of Neurology.
- Mental-health benefits are not just limited to dementia prevention; staying fit and healthy as you age contributes to overall well-being.
- Women's-health research reveals that maintaining high cardiovascular fitness levels could potentially aid in managing various medical-conditions, including dementia, although further study is required to confirm these findings.
