It’s well-known exercise plays a vital role in your physical health, and now studies propose staying fit in midlife may protect your brain as well, avoiding mental deterioration in later years.
A study, published in Neurology, that followed Swedish women for more than 40 years, suggests one’s level of physical fitness predicts the amount of protection from dementia decades later.1
Swedish Dementia/Exercise Study Began 50 Years Ago
At the onset of the study in 1968, 191 Swedish women ranging in age from 38 to 60 took part in a vigorous stationary cycling test to measure their exercise work capacity. Based on work capacity, women were split into low, medium, and high fitness categories. The women were followed from 1968 to 2012, and dementia diagnoses were recorded.
Joel Fuhrman
Author
Joel Fuhrman, M.D. is a board-certified family physician, seven-time New York Times best-selling author and internationally recognized expert on nutrition and natural healing. He specializes in preventing and reversing disease through nutritional methods.
