But not all signs of cognitive decline predict later dementia: only 10% to 20% of people 65 and older with mild cognitive impairment or MCI develop dementia over the next year, according to the National Institutes of Health. ‘Aging. “In many cases, the symptoms of MCI can stay the same or even improve,” the institute states. Now, a new large study of about 17,000 adults over the age of 65 finds people walking about 5% slower or slower each year while also showing signs of slower mental processing were more likely to develop dementia. The study was published Tuesday in the journal JAMA Network Open.
“These findings highlight the importance of gait in assessing the risk of dementia,” wrote author Taya Collyer, a researcher at Peninsula Clinical School at Monash University in Victoria, Australia.
“Declining doubles” with more risk
The new study followed a group of Americans over 65 and Australians over 70 for seven years. Every two years, study participants were asked to take cognitive tests that measured general cognitive decline, memory, processing speed, and verbal fluency.
Twice every two years, subjects were also asked to walk 3 feet, or about 10 feet. The two results were then averaged to determine the person’s typical gait.
At the end of the study, researchers found that the highest risk of dementia was for “dual decliners,” or people who not only walked more slowly but also showed some signs of cognitive impairment, said Dr. Joe Verghese. , professor of geriatrics and neurology. at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx, New York, who did not participate in the study.
“In addition, dual decliners had a higher risk of dementia than those who only had gait or cognitive impairment,” Verghese wrote in an attached editorial published Tuesday in JAMA magazine.
A dual association between walking speed and decreased memory is predictive of subsequent dementia, found a 2020 meta-analysis of nearly 9,000 American adults.
However, despite these findings, “gait dysfunction has not been considered an early clinical feature in patients with Alzheimer’s disease,” wrote Verghese.
Exercise can help
There are things we can do as we age to reverse the brain contraction that accompanies typical aging. Studies have found that aerobic exercise increases the size of the hippocampus, increasing some aspects of memory.
Buried deep in the temporal lobe of the brain, the hippocampus is a strangely shaped organ that is responsible for learning, consolidating memories, and spatial navigation, such as the ability to remember directions, locations, and orientations.
Aerobic training increased the volume of the right anterior hippocampus by 2%, reversing age-related organ loss by one or two years in a 2011 randomized clinical trial. who only did stretching exercises had a decrease of approximately 1.43% over the same time period.
Aerobic exercise means “air” and is a type of workout where your heart rate and breathing increase, but not so much that you can’t keep working. Types of aerobic exercise may include brisk walking, swimming, running, cycling, dancing, and kickboxing, as well as all local gym cardio machines, such as a treadmill, elliptical trainer, rowing, or climber.