Revised Article:
Stepping Your Way to Better Brain Health?
Stepping up your daily walking pace and reaching a specific number of steps could minimize the risk of dementia, according to recent research. Astudy revealed that individuals aged 40 to 79 who maintained a brisk pace with around 40 steps per minute, even if they only covered 6,315 steps daily, had a 57% lower chance of developing dementia within seven years. Previously, studies classified 100 steps per minute as a "brisk" or moderate intensity.
"It's a brisk pace, much like power walking," said Borja Del Pozo, a co-author of the study and extraordinary professor at the University of Southern Denmark in Odense, Denmark, as well as leading researcher for health sciences at the University of Cadiz in Spain.
The research also showed that those who consistently achieved 3,800 steps daily, regardless of pace, had a 25% lower risk of dementia.
Del Pozo advised in an email that for sedentary individuals, starting with a goal of 4,000 steps daily could be a manageable target.
"This could motivate less mobile older adults – 4,000 steps is achievable for many people, even those who aren't as fit or feel less active," he added. "Perhaps more active and healthier individuals may want to aim for a 10-kilometer run to see the greatest effect."
According to a Tuesday article in JAMA Neurology titled "Is 112 the new 10,000?," the study contained an intriguing discovery.
The study found that individuals who went at a consistent, brisk pace of 112 steps per minute daily saw the most significant reduction in dementia risk (62%), surpassing earlier studies that classified 100 steps per minute as "brisk" or moderate intensity.
The JAMA Neurology article suggested that people seeking to decrease their dementia risk should focus on walking speed and distance.
Alzheimer's researchers Ozioma Okonkwo and Elizabeth Planalp, in an accompanying article in JAMA Neurology, concurred with the findings. Okonkwo is an extraordinary professor in the medical department of the Wisconsin Alzheimer's Disease Research Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison; Planalp is a research scientist in Okonkwo's laboratory.
"We agree that this is an interesting result," Del Pozo said via email. "We believe that stride intensity matters as well, not just volume. With technology, not only steps but also stride speed can be tracked, and data integrable into commercial watches, etc. More work needs to be done in this area of research."
Burning Steps or Dancing Feet?
Preliminary research suggests that walking at a certain pace and steps per day benefits the brain through several mechanisms:
- Enhanced Brain Function: Regular physical exercise, including walking, helps regulate insulin, which directly improves cognitive function. This is particularly beneficial for older adults with prediabetes or diabetes, as it reduces the risk of dementia by improving insulin sensitivity and reducing insulin resistance in the body.
- Adaptive Brain Capacity: Engaging in physical activity like walking can strengthen the brain's adaptive capacity to manage cognitive demands. This is consistent with the "adaptive capacity model," which hypothesizes that exercise can mitigate the effects of cognitive aging by boosting brain function and structure.
- Improved Cognitive Performance: Studies indicate that walking at least 4,000 steps daily is linked with better cognitive performance and thicker medial temporal lobes, an essential brain region for memory.
- Long-term Brain Health: Exercising regularly throughout life, specifically before the age of 50, can alter the brain to stave off dementia. Changes include preserving the volume in brain areas vital to memory and thinking, such as the hippocampus.
In conclusion, regularly walking at a certain pace and covering a specific number of steps can reduce dementia risk by improving insulin regulation, enhancing adaptive brain capacity, promoting better cognitive performance, and safeguarding brain volume over the long term.
