high-aerobic-fitness-lowers-dementia-risk-study-finds

Elevated cardiorespiratory fitness may reduce the risk of dementia by as much as 35 per cent, even in individuals with a significant genetic predisposition for the age-related condition, according to a recent study.

 

Cardiorespiratory fitness, or aerobic fitness, assesses the efficiency of oxygen delivery to muscles and organs during physical activities. As people age and muscles weaken, the circulatory and respiratory system's ability to provide oxygen diminishes.

 

Engaging in cycling, running, and aerobic exercises can enhance cardiorespiratory fitness.

 

A study conducted by researchers from Tianjin Medical University in China and the Karolinska Institute in Sweden found that individuals with high levels of cardiorespiratory fitness exhibited improved cognitive function and a reduced risk of developing dementia.

 

Additionally, in this group, the onset of dementia was found to be postponed by as much as 1.5 years, or 18 months.

 

"Our study shows that higher cardiorespiratory fitness is associated with better cognitive function and decreased dementia risk. Moreover, high cardiorespiratory fitness may buffer the impact of genetic risk of all dementia by 35 per cent," the authors wrote in the study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.

 

Maintaining favourable levels of aerobic fitness could be a strategy to prevent dementia, even among people genetically inclined towards developing it, they said.

 

For the study, the researchers divided a group of over 61,000 people aged 39-70 years and not having dementia into three equal sub-groups according to their cardiorespiratory fitness scores. Over a follow-up period of up to 12 years, 553 people were diagnosed with dementia.

 

The participants took a six-minute exercise test on a stationary bike at the time of enrolling in the UK Biobank study between 2009 and 2010 for developing cardiorespiratory fitness scores. Cognitive function and a genetic score for developing dementia too were estimated.

 

Onset of dementia was found to be delayed by about a year and a half among those with high levels of cardiorespiratory fitness, compared to those having low aerobic fitness scores.