A large new study from the Framingham Heart Study examined whether physical activity in early adulthood, midlife or older age has the greatest impact on reducing the risk of developing dementia.
What did the researchers found?
The study followed over 4,300 people for several decades and showed:
• Physical activity in midlife (45 - 64 years) reduced the risk of all types of dementia by 41% in the most active compared with the least active.
• Physical activity in older age (65 - 88 years) reduced the risk by 45% for the most active.
• Physical activity in early adulthood (26 - 44 years) had no measurable link to dementia risk later in life.
• The results were similar for Alzheimer’s disease.
What does this mean?
The study shows that the timing of physical activity plays a major role.
The effects appear to be greatest in midlife and older age, which suggests that efforts to prevent dementia should focus particularly on these periods.
📌 Conclusion
• Being physically active in midlife and later life is strongly linked to a lower risk of both Alzheimer’s and other dementias.
• Physical activity early in life does not seem to have the same long-term protective effect.
• It is therefore not too late to influence brain health, even activity in your 50s–70s makes a big difference.
