How you can stop dementia in its tracks in your 60s

Staying active throughout adulthood could help stave off dementia and even taking up exercise in your 60s is better than doing nothing at all, new research has suggested.

A long-term study found that people who exercise as they age are more likely to have good brain health than those who take up an activity for shorter periods of time but then give it up.

The study, led by a team at University College London, examined data from 1,417 people (53 per cent of whom were women) who filled in surveys about how much exercise they did.

The surveys were carried out five times throughout adulthood, when people were aged 36, 43, 53, 60-64 and 69.

The question asked whether people had taken part in “sports and vigorous leisure activities” such as badminton, swimming, dancing, football, or brisk walks for 30 minutes or more in the previous four weeks.

If people said yes, they were asked how often per month they did these activities.

People were then categorised as either not being active (no physical activity in a month), moderately active (once to four times per month) and most active (five or more times per month).

Tests carried out at 69

Cognitive tests, plus those looking at processing speed and memory, were carried out once people hit the age of 69.

The study found that people who were physically active at least one to four times a month in all five separate surveys performed the best on the tests.

This effect was bigger than for people who exercised frequently (more than five times a month) during at least one survey period, but who did not necessarily keep this up across multiple stages of life.

The authors concluded: “Being physically active at all time points in adulthood was associated with higher cognitive performance and verbal memory scores at age 69.

“Notably, the effect sizes were similar across all adult ages, and for those who were either moderately or most physically active, suggesting that being physically active at any time in adulthood, even if participating as little as once per month, is linked with higher cognition.”

Even light levels of activity beneficial

Dr Sarah-Naomi James, the study’s lead author, said: “Our study suggests that engaging in any leisure-time physical activity, at any point in adult life, has a positive effect on cognition.

“This seems to be the case even at light levels of activity, between once to four times a month.

“What’s more, people who have never been active before, and then start to be active in their 60s, also appear to have better cognitive function than those who were never active.

“The greatest cognitive effect was seen for those who stayed physically active throughout their life.”

The study, published in the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry, found that some of the link between exercise and brain health was explained by education, childhood attainment and socio-economic background, though the effect remained significant even when these were taken into account.

Dr Susan Mitchell, head of policy at Alzheimer’s Research UK, said: “This large study, which ran over three decades and which was co-funded by Alzheimer’s Research UK, shows that it’s never too late to start getting active, and how important it is to try and maintain this throughout our lifetime.”