A new study that assessed data from tens of thousands of people found that those who engage in moderate to vigorous physical activity enjoy a substantially lower likelihood of developing brain-related medical conditions like dementia.
The findings, which will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology’s 77th Annual Meeting in April, also concluded that people who spend more time sitting possess a higher risk of developing these conditions, which also include stroke, anxiety, depression, and sleep disorder.
After assessing data from roughly 73,000 individuals, the study authors found that people with higher energy expenditure were upwards of 40% less likely to develop these conditions. Conversely, those who spend more time sitting are up to 54% more susceptible.
“This research highlights the role of physical activity and sedentary behavior as modifiable factors that may enhance brain health and reduce the incidence of these diseases,” said Jia-Yi Wu, MD, of Fudan University in Shanghai, China, and author of the latest study, per Neuroscience News.
“It is promising to think that encouraging people to make these lifestyle changes could potentially lessen the burden of these diseases in the future.”
The researchers examined the physical activity data of 73,411 people in the U.K., with an average age of 56. The individuals all wore accelerometer devices, like those found in Fitbits, to track their activity for seven consecutive days.
From there, researchers could gauge their energy expenditure and the length of time they typically spent sitting each day.
Individuals who did not develop any of the conditions averaged a daily energy expenditure of 1.22 kilojoules per kilogram, versus 0.85 for those who developed dementia, 0.95 for those who developed sleep disorders, 1.02 for stroke, 1.08 for depression, and finally, 1.10 for anxiety.
“Some previous studies have relied on people reporting on their own levels of activity,” said Wu. “With our large number of participants and the use of devices that provide objective measurements of activity levels, these results will have implications for assessing risk factors and developing interventions to prevent the development of these diseases.”