Walking on a regular basis is one of the best ways for elderly people to stay in shape and keep their cardiovascular system healthy. According to new research, though, the link between walking and the health of older individuals may run much deeper than this, with a decline in average walking speed being shown to correlate to an increased risk of dementia.
What is Dementia?
Dementia is a general term for a category of conditions that impair brain functions such as memory and judgment. Alzheimer’s disease is one unfortunately common type of dementia that affects older individuals, and there is no cure for this condition. Along with Alzheimer’s disease, though, there are a number of other conditions that fall under the umbrella of dementia, including vascular dementia, ley body dementia, frontotemporal dementia, and mixed dementia.
According to the CDC, it is estimated that about 5.8 million people in the United States suffer from Alzheimer’s disease or related dementia, including 5.6 million people over the age of 65 and 200,000 people under the age of 65 who suffer from early-onset dementia.
Common symptoms of dementia include:
- Memory loss
- Aphasia (difficulty communicating/finding words)
- Reduced coordination and motor functions
- Confusion and disorientation
- Reduced visual and spatial abilities
- Difficulty handling complex tasks
- Personality changes
- Anxiety
- Inappropriate behavior
The Link Between Average Walking Speed and Dementia Risk
Dementia is often a difficult condition to diagnose. Unlike most diseases, dementia does not have any physical markers, leaving an assessment of a patient’s symptoms and medical history as the only tool physicians have available to screen for dementia. However, detecting the onset of dementia as soon as possible is key when it comes to slowing its progression of symptoms.
To help improve the dementia screening process, researchers examined data from 19,114 US and Australian patients aged 65 years and older and found that a decrease in average walking speed was directly correlated to an increased risk of developing dementia. The study’s conclusion stated, “Of domains examined, the combination of decline in gait speed with memory had the strongest association with dementia risk. These findings support the inclusion of gait speed in dementia risk screening assessments.”
It’s important to note that these results are not suggesting that a declined walking speed causes dementia; walking faster may help you get more exercise and reach your destination, but it isn’t likely to prevent you from developing dementia. Instead, the purpose of the study was to show that a decline in average walking speed can be an indicator that a patient is at higher risk of developing dementia. Having this new indicator will help physicians better assess dementia risk so that high-risk patients can begin preventive measures.
What to Do if You Are at High Risk of Developing Dementia
There is no proven way to prevent dementia, and the most impactful dementia risk factors are impossible to change. This includes risk factors such as age, genetics, and level of education. However, there are a few other dementia risk factors that you can control. Eating a healthy diet, getting plenty of exercise, limiting your alcohol consumption, quitting smoking, and keeping your blood pressure at a healthy level are all things that may be able to reduce your dementia risk.
Research also suggests that exercising your brain and keeping it as active as possible may be able to help slow/prevent dementia as well. Reading, writing, and playing games that challenge the mind are all activities that can reduce dementia risk. In fact, a study published in the scientific journal Neurology found that keeping your brain sharp with regular activities such as these may be able to delay the onset of dementia by up to five years.
While there is no cure for dementia and no way to completely prevent it, a lifelong commitment to proper diet and regular exercise of both the physical and mental variety will likely go a long way toward reducing your dementia risk.
