Walking 3,000 steps a day seems to slow the decline associated with Alzheimer’s disease

Seniors who are particularly at risk for Alzheimer’s disease can slow their cognitive decline by taking just 3,000 steps a day. It’s unclear why step count might have this effect, but it could be linked to the effect of regular exercise on inflammation or blood flow to the brain.

Previous studies linking regular exercise to reduced cognitive decline have mostly relied on people recalling their activity levels and have rarely explored why staying active might have this effect.

To address these limitations, Wei Ying and Wendy Yao She and her colleagues at Harvard University analyzed the physical activity of 296 cognitively healthy people, ages 50 to 90, who wore a step-tracking device for one week, to objectively measure their activity levels.

Most participants had their brains imaged to detect baseline levels of misfolded proteins called tau and amyloid beta, clumps of which are thought to cause Alzheimer’s disease. These levels were then generally measured every two to three years over a follow-up period of three to 14 years. Participants also completed annual cognitive tests to evaluate things like their memory and how quickly they process information.

By entering data on step counts, imaging, and cognitive tests into a statistical model, the researchers estimated the effect of exercise on cognitive decline. They found that among participants who had higher-than-average levels of misfolded amyloid beta in their brains to begin with, taking 3,000 to 5,000 steps per day seemed to significantly slow the accumulation of misfolded tau, but not amyloid beta.

“[Exercise is] It somehow slows the spread of tau, which is more strongly linked to symptoms in people [of Alzheimer’s disease] “From amyloid beta,” he says. Charles Marshall at Queen Mary University of London, who was not involved in the study.

This was also associated with their rate of cognitive decline slowing by about 40% over an average follow-up period of nine years, compared to taking fewer than 3,000 steps per day, which is defined as inactive. The researchers did not have the data to evaluate whether any of the participants had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease during the follow-up period.

Meanwhile, taking between 5,000 and 7,500 steps per day appears to slow tau accumulation even further, leading to a 54% slower rate of cognitive decline compared to inactivity. But taking more than 7,500 steps per day was not associated with more cognitive benefits. “The tau benefits and cognitive benefits eventually reach a plateau,” Yao says.

Researchers have not explored exactly how regular exercise might have these effects, but it may be because Physical activity reduces inflammationwhich is thought to occur as a result of amyloid beta and tau imbalance, then disrupts nerve communications and kills cells. You can also exercise Promote blood flow Or brain-protective hormone levels.

However, this study did not prove that taking 5,000 steps per day slows or delays cognitive decline. Marshall says existing disabilities that have not yet been diagnosed or even noticed can affect people’s ability or motivation to exercise. Lifestyle or other socioeconomic factors, some of which the team tried to adjust for, could also affect activity and tau levels, he says.

However, regular exercise has a plethora of health benefits, can be done at no cost and has very few, if any, side effects, which may encourage people to take 3,000 steps, or more, a day, although the exact effects on cognitive function are not clear. “My advice to people is always to not focus too much on the magic number [step count] “The goal,” Marshall says. “I think [what’s] More important is the idea of ​​doing something regularly, it doesn’t have to be a lot, it doesn’t have to be high intensity, it’s more about getting some physical activity with high regularity.

Previous research suggests that consistent lifestyle changes — including exercise — improve cognitive decline. But more studies, where individuals are randomly assigned to achieve a different number of daily steps, are needed to separate the effects of exercise from other lifestyle changes and determine whether they actually slow tau accumulation, Yao says.

Topics:

• He practices/
• Alzheimer’s disease