Researchers are hoping that by studying the brains of “super-agers” they’ll be able to unlock the secrets to sharp memory in old age. Here is a direct video link.
For more good news see ‘Highly fit’ middle-aged women nearly 90% less likely to develop dementia decades later, study finds:
If this doesn’t encourage you to squeeze in a workout today, nothing will: a new study from Sweden shows that women who were highly fit in mid-life were nearly 90% less likely to get dementia decades later.
After initial exercise tests in middle age, researchers followed the women for 44 years. Both groups lived just as long, but those who could ride an exercise bike at a fast rate for 6 minutes in the initial test had a much lower risk of dementia later on than those who couldn’t complete the workout.
The study, published Wednesday in the journal Neurology, couldn’t prove that exercise prevented dementia, and the findings aren’t a surprise — it’s long been known there’s a correlation between exercise and decreased dementia risk — but the results were particularly dramatic.
About 5% of the women with the highest peak workload — those who were able to bike the hardest over those 6 minutes — developed dementia, compared to 25% of those with medium fitness and 45% who weren’t fit enough to finish the test, the study found. Overall, women who were highly fit compared to those who were moderately fit decreased their risk of dementia by 88%.
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