Parking yourself in front of the TV may
make you as likely to develop dementia as people genetically predisposed to the
condition, a Canadian study suggests.
In a study of more than 1,600 adults
aged 65 and older, those who led a sedentary life seemed to have the same risk
of developing dementia as those who carried the apolipoprotein E (APOE) gene
mutation, which increases the chances of developing dementia.
Conversely, people who exercised
appeared to have lower odds of developing dementia than those who didn't, the
five-year study found.
"Being inactive may completely
negate the protective effects of a healthy set of genes," said lead
researcher Jennifer Heisz, an assistant professor in the department of
kinesiology at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario.
However, the study didn't prove that
lack of exercise caused dementia risk to increase. It only found an association
between the two.
The APOE mutation is the strongest
genetic risk factor for vascular dementia, Lewy body dementia, Parkinson's
disease and, especially, Alzheimer's disease, the researchers said.
People with a single APOE
"allele" may have a three to four times increased risk of dementia
than non-carriers, the study authors said.
How exercise may reduce the risk for
dementia isn't known, Heisz said.
These study results, however, suggest
that your physical activity level can influence your dementia risk as much as
your genetics, Heisz said. "You can't change your genes, but you can
change your lifestyle," she added.
The kind of exercise that's best isn't
known, although the people who were physically active in the study reported
walking three times a week, Heisz said.
"Which means you don't have to
train like an Olympian to get the brain health benefits of being physically
active," she said.
The report was published Jan. 10 in
the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease.
Dr. Sam Gandy directs the Center for
Cognitive Health at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City. He said the study
findings aren't "really a surprise, but it is good to see it proven."
Other scientists showed some years ago
that people with the APOE mutation could virtually erase the risk of developing
amyloid plaques in the brain if they became regular runners, Gandy said.
Amyloid plaques are one of the hallmark signs of Alzheimer's.
"That was an amazing report that,
I believe, has been underpublicized," Gandy said.
However, this new study suggests that
if you are blessed with genes that lower your risk for Alzheimer's, you could
lose that benefit if you don't exercise, he said.
"I cannot understand why the fear
of dementia is not sufficient to induce everyone to adopt a regular exercise
program," Gandy said.
"I tell all my patients that if
they leave with one, and only one, piece of advice, that the one thing that
they can do to reduce their risk of dementia or slow the progression of
dementia is to exercise," he said.
About 47.5 million
people around the world are living with dementia, the researchers said, and
that number is expected to surge to 115 million by 2050. With no known cure,
there's an urgent need to explore, identify and change lifestyle factors that
can reduce dementia risk, the study authors said.
SOURCE: Steven Reinberg, wflx.com
No comments:
Post a Comment