As life expectancy continues to increase, the need to find ways to stave off age-related diseases grows ever stronger. We’d all love to live longer, provided we can maintain at least a reasonable quality of life.
One of the more common conditions people fear is dementia. Many of us have seen the impact Alzheimer’s disease has on those we love as they get older.
We feel sad for their ‘loss’, but also can’t help but wonder if such a fate awaits us some years down the track.
Science and medical research have long been on the trail of potentially preventative measures, and for some years now it has been known that exercise can play a part in attaining prevention.
The term ‘exercise’, however, means many different things to different people, which may lead them to ask questions. For instance, what forms or exercise? Is a daily walk around the block enough, or is a regular trip to the gym for some high-intensity workouts required?
Until recently, studies on this subject were small – and often conflicting – with little consensus on the type, frequency or intensity of exercise that might be best. Three recent studies, recognising this inadequacy, have attempted to narrow the parameters to find out which types of exercise work best.
But what type of exercise?
The good news is that any type of exercise – even low to moderate intensity – is better than none. But, as one might expect, vigorous exercise seems to provide the best protection of all.
That doesn’t necessarily mean a trip to the gym is needed, though. A healthy dose of housework can provide the vigour required.
Best of all, it appears that such vigorous exercise provides as much reduction in risk for those who have a family history of dementia.
The first of the three studies analysed the health information of 501,376 participants who did not have dementia, from the UK Biobank database, to establish links between physical activity and the risk of developing the disease.
Participants filled out detailed questionnaires about their participation in physical activities, such as playing sports, climbing stairs or walking, and whether they regularly walked or biked to work. Unlike many other studies, this one was specific about the types of physical activity undertaken.
Over a period of 11 years, detailed accounts of the participants were compiled. During that time, 5185 of the more than 500,000 participants developed dementia.
The study found that for participants who engaged in regular, vigorous activity, such as playing sports or working out, the risk of developing dementia was reduced by 35 per cent.
Value of household tasks
But there was also a lower risk for people who reported regularly completing household chores, although not quite as significant, coming in at 21 per cent.
In the other two studies, one found that participants who exercised regularly (such as walking, running, swimming, dancing, participating in sports or gym workouts) had a 17 per cent lower risk of developing dementia compared with those who did not.
The third study focused on children aged between seven and 15, following them for more than 30 years. The results indicated that the fitter the child was, the higher their levels of cognitive functioning were in midlife.
In short, exercise will give you a better chance of staving off dementia. The earlier you start, and the more vigorous the exercise is (within reason) the higher those chances will be.
Do you work up a sweat doing household chores? What sort of exercise do you do regularly? Why not share your experience and thoughts in the comments section below?
