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“Physically Fit Women Nearly 90% Less Likely To Develop Dementia”
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And yes dementia and Alzheimer’s are awful and I’m terrified of growing old.0
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deannalfisher wrote: »I’ve mentioned this book a few times in other threads but Why We Sleep has a chapter talking about Alzheimer’s and other formers of dementia and how Sleep research is looking at causality between the two - there seems to be some longitudinal studies from Europe that draw some interesting conclusions
Interesting! I’ll have to look into that. Thanks!0 -
singingflutelady wrote: »
Wow, those people are unfortunate getting the disease so early in life! It’s going to be interesting seeing what they can learn from studying all those cases. Could it be an environmental contamination? Genetic? A virus? Fascinating, thanks for sharing!0 -
My grandma is an identical twin. My grandma is in really poor health and I suspect she has dementia or she’s starting to. It’s very sad. However her twin seems to be very healthy. Her mind is all there, she gets around much better. She was also a lot more active and always exercised. Even now she likes to play tennis among other things. . My grandma never exercised. (According to my mom) I know I just picked one thing out of the many different lifestyle choices they both made throughout their lives so I’m sure that’s not the only contributing factor. But still.
That is an amazing anecdote! Differences between identical twins is definitely worth studying. There could indeed be something to it since the difference in their physical activity is so markedly noticeable. Something to take into consideration and use as an incentive for all of us middle agers to get more exercise. Thank you for sharing your experience!0 -
My grandma is an identical twin. My grandma is in really poor health and I suspect she has dementia or she’s starting to. It’s very sad. However her twin seems to be very healthy. Her mind is all there, she gets around much better. She was also a lot more active and always exercised. Even now she likes to play tennis among other things. . My grandma never exercised. (According to my mom) I know I just picked one thing out of the many different lifestyle choices they both made throughout their lives so I’m sure that’s not the only contributing factor. But still.
Genetics establishes the parameters of our capabilities, but behavior and environment can push beyond those parameters. For this push to occur we need a sense of purpose and responsibility.
Biological systems are amazing as our bodies adapt to necessity - very little is wasted. If you engage your muscles, say jogging one day, the body responds by sending more blood for the activity. If the activity persists, the body responds by building new vasculature to make the process more efficient.
Same response occurs if systems are not used - capillary beds collapse if you go from an active life to a sedentary one.3 -
Bump!2
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ladyreva78 wrote: »Is there a genetic component to dementia? Or is that a pure 'lifestyle' disease caused by our increased access to food and deceasing physical activity?
Yes, absolutely, there is a genetic component. The ε4 variant of the APOE gene is associated with a significantly increased risk of late-onset Alzheimer's. Having just one copy of it roughly doubles your risk of getting Alzheimer's by age 85 (compared to general population). Two copies almost quadruples it compared to the general population, with ~60% of women carrying two copies developing Alzheimer's by 85 (compared to the general female population risk of 14% and 6-10% risk for verified female non-carriers).There are several other genes associated with an increased risk of other types of dementia as well.
We do the best we can with the cards we're given, but as of yet, there's no outfoxing your genes. We only wish we could control everything with just diet and exercise.6 -
Countless peer reviewed, legitimate studies keep coming up with the same results: physically fit people have a statistically significant lower chance of developing mental and physical problems throughout thier life. That includes everything from dementia to cancer.9
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Countless peer reviewed, legitimate studies k\eep coming up with the same results: physically fit people have a statistically significant lower chance of developing mental and physical problems throughout thier life. That includes everything from dementia to cancer.
I "insightful"-ed that, but it's really more of a "well, duh!" (no insult intended).
I'm 62. All I have to do is look around me at people my age +/- 10 or so years, look at their quality of life on average, look at the obvious condition of the majority of people in doctors' offices I visit, think about the people I knew who are already dead, and it's stupid obvious. Physically fit people have better odds of better outcomes.
Guaranteed? No. But better odds, no question - across the board, physical and cognitive benefits. I can't even begin to understand why someone "woo"-ed your post.15 -
Countless peer reviewed, legitimate studies k\eep coming up with the same results: physically fit people have a statistically significant lower chance of developing mental and physical problems throughout thier life. That includes everything from dementia to cancer.
I "insightful"-ed that, but it's really more of a "well, duh!" (no insult intended).
I'm 62. All I have to do is look around me at people my age +/- 10 or so years, look at their quality of life on average, look at the obvious condition of the majority of people in doctors' offices I visit, think about the people I knew who are already dead, and it's stupid obvious. Physically fit people have better odds of better outcomes.
Guaranteed? No. But better odds, no question - across the board, physical and cognitive benefits. I can't even begin to understand why someone "woo"-ed your post.
Agreed! My life is so much better now being physically active that even if it conferred no additional future benefits, it would still be worth it to remain active to enjoy the higher quality of life more activity provides today. And this is after a lifetime of sedentary living, I know better now and I’ll never go back to that.4 -
Exercise is good. Genetics rule. I know a fit family, the fittest people I know. Work from daylight to dark all of the days of their life. The grandmother, mother and now all of the children have it. They're relatively young in their 50s's and leaving this world one by one within months of each other.
Did these people work together? (Or live together or in near proximity?) Because the fact that they all died within months of each other, yet were from three different generations and thus decades apart in the age when they succumbed, to me suggests an environmental cause more than a genetic one.2 -
Sunday bump!2
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Interesting article and responses. The thing I found interesting was the "highly" fit versus "moderately" fit part. Most people in their 40s on up aren't very likely to feel the need to stay "highly" fit. Outside of those who are highly active and participate in sports even in the middle-age plus range, the majority of the population would be very content with moderate fitness.
I could see the type of person who would stick to a high fitness level later in life having a very different type of lifestyle in general, even a very different outlook on life in general. I could easily see those overall differences having more to do with the outcome of this study than just the fitness.
"The Nun Study" offered some pretty interesting insight into likelihood of Alzheimer's and if I recall the post-death findings vs symptoms while alive were also very enlightening and interesting to note.5 -
monkeefan1974 wrote: »Countless peer reviewed, legitimate studies k\eep coming up with the same results: physically fit people have a statistically significant lower chance of developing mental and physical problems throughout thier life. That includes everything from dementia to cancer.
I "insightful"-ed that, but it's really more of a "well, duh!" (no insult intended).
I'm 62. All I have to do is look around me at people my age +/- 10 or so years, look at their quality of life on average, look at the obvious condition of the majority of people in doctors' offices I visit, think about the people I knew who are already dead, and it's stupid obvious. Physically fit people have better odds of better outcomes.
Guaranteed? No. But better odds, no question - across the board, physical and cognitive benefits. I can't even begin to understand why someone "woo"-ed your post.
Agreed! My life is so much better now being physically active that even if it conferred no additional future benefits, it would still be worth it to remain active to enjoy the higher quality of life more activity provides today. And this is after a lifetime of sedentary living, I know better now and I’ll never go back to that.
This is how I feel. I certainly hope being active benefits "future me" and the evidence certainly suggests that it does generally help people as they age.
But I *know* it benefits me now.4 -
monkeefan1974 wrote: »Were you aware of this study? Would it be enough to change your exercise routines or lack there of?
Add it to the long list of the benefits of exercise:- reduce the risk of dementia
- reduce your risk of a heart attack or stroke
- manage your weight better
- have a lower blood cholesterol level
- lower the risk of type 2 diabetes and some cancers
- have lower blood pressure
- have stronger bones, muscles and joints and lower the risk of osteoporosis and arthritis
- lower your risk of falls
- recover better from period of hospitalisation or bed rest
- feel better – with more energy, a better mood, feel more relaxed and sleep better
Some people only need one of those reasons to change their ways.
Some people can't seem to listen to any of these.
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The thing about the human body is how much we still don't know. Only recently the existence of an entirely new organ, the Interstitium, was recognized. We're talking mere months ago, so considering how long we've been dissecting, documenting and analyzing the human body it only goes to show how little settled science there is on anything, even things we've been doing for a comparatively long time.
Another relatively recent discovery has been the glymphatic system, which is not a misspelling of lymphatic but a parallel system that operates only during our sleep cycles (which is why it escaped notice for so long) and has been hypothesized as functioning as a waste clearing system for the cerebro-spinal fluid system. Some researchers are looking at this as a promising area for investigation in relation to cognitive decline.
Likewise, Cancer is being found to be not a single disease as initially thought, but a family of diseases with causes as varied as viruses, genetics and environment. Some cancers have roots in errors in replication at the cellular level, which may just be a result of senescence as much as anything else.
It is always prudent to do what you can to optimize your rate of dying, but in the end we all do. Physical wellness is important, but the mental aspects should be taken no less seriously. Exercising the brain as much as the body, and paying attention to what you put into either of them will go a long way to living your best.
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My Mom will be happy to hear this. Her father had Alzheimer's, and she worries about this. I remind her that he was a drinker and a smoker, and she is not. He was and she is very active.3
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there really is ABSOLUTELY no downside to exercising
none. 2 -
Bumping because it’s such an important topic!
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Really insightful and thought provoking thread - following and thanks for so many positive posters!
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One of the biggest reasons I wanted to develop a physically active lifestyle is because my family is like a testament to what happens when you don't make activity a way of life. Heart disease, frailty, osteoporosis, sedentary, arthritis, dementia have all had a part in claiming both quality of life and actual lives of my older family members.
I'm also endlessly inspired by people like my grandmother's best friend who is now in her 70s and cycles, golfs, walks almost daily. Until this time last year, she was exponentially more active than I (in my 30s) was. I want to be the granny who is sharp as a tack and can trot circles around the sedentary young'uns.11 -
Many people that develop MCI and or dementia have problems with the blood flow (heart and vascular diseases do this. My MIL has MCI which can/may be a precursor to dementia. She has had a triple bypass and vascular issues and diabetes 2, many long term sufferers of the latter develop related dementia which starts as the mentioned MCI All are interrelated unfortunately.
It is sad to see her mind declining more rapidly than it should be.
Exercise keeps a lot of these problems down by building muscle - improving blood flow and strengthening everything. It is by no means the end of the story. History, genetics, environment ,education, stress etc are all factors that contribute.
When it comes to complex issues like dementia the answers will also be be complex, but exercise IMO certainly has a positive influence on it (and general well being on old age)
At 50 I am working hard to prepare myself tools be healthy when I am retired. I know that life though gives me no guarantees. All I can do it get the statistics on my side and then hope that my genetics and environment don't throw an unexpected curveball.2 -
Countless peer reviewed, legitimate studies keep coming up with the same results: physically fit people have a statistically significant lower chance of developing mental and physical problems throughout thier life. That includes everything from dementia to cancer.
Yes to this. There's no good reason not to be physically active. There's a looooong list of reasons not to be sedentary. If my active lifestyle wards off dementia in addition to all the other benefits - I'll take it!2 -
double post0
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monkeefan1974 wrote: »Would [this study] be enough to change your exercise routines or lack there of? Is the study flawed or not worth much consideration? Thoughts/opinions?
No, it would not, because this study is in no way showing that exercise helps prevent dementia. Literally does not show this, at all. It's correlation only. There IS no causation in this study; even the researchers have mentioned that.
Is this study a good study to give us a starting point to see if exercise DOES impact whether we develop dementia? Sure. Finding correlation is a great first step. But it is not proving causation.
And honestly, looking at the research out there, there's other reasons that this type of correlation can happen that have jack all to do with exercise influencing dementia.
As one easy example. People who are not healthy for a variety of reasons (genetics, unhealthy environments, etc...) - and so tend to have more pain, more exhaustion, more inflammation, more depression, and more injuries - do not tend exercise as much as healthy people. And it could easily be that people who are not healthy may also be more prone to dementia. Instant correlation: people who are not healthy don't exercise as much, and are also more likely to develop dementia (if this were the case). Nothing to do with exercise preventing dementia, and everything to do with exercise levels being an indicator of overall health, and so predictive of future potential problems as a result.
In fact, there are studies that link auto-immune disorders to having a higher risk of dementia and alzheimer's already, so there seems to be some evidence that certain health issues may impact dementia (these, too, however, are correlative).
I'm not saying that exercise isn't a good thing. Or eating healthy, or avoiding smoking, or whatever other things benefit our body. But saying that exercise would make such a huge difference in dementia pretty much erases the entire concept of anyone who isn't healthy and fit, IMO.
Honestly, I bring it up because far too often, you see folks blaming lack of exercise for ill health, when in fact their ill health is what is causing the lack of exercise.
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Very interesting podcast interview this week by Dr Chatteejee - talking to a scientist doing research into brain cell regeneration. (He’s well known in the Uk - ‘doctor in the house’ tv series radically transforming people’s health through non-medicine based approaches even tho he’s a GP)
Exercise, ‘Mediterranean’ diet, sleep, IF, calories restriction, low stress, even having crunchy food (!) - all play a role in brain health...
I recommend you listen...
my mum had dementia, but only developed it in her 80s and its progress was mercifully on the slower side, and my dad in his 90s has just been diagnosed - so they both had many many years of good self care and good brain health.
I am one of the ‘poor health can stop me from exercising’ people - I have CFS - but I still prioritise fitness in my life.1 -
gentlygently wrote: »I am one of the ‘poor health can stop me from exercising’ people - I have CFS - but I still prioritise fitness in my life.
Hey, thanks for the shout out for the guy. I'll check him out.
Honestly, I am not trying to say that fitness shouldn't be a priority. More responding to the OP's question, you know? Would that study convince me (or rather, do I think it should convince anyone?) that exercise should be increased to help dementia? And it should not, because it is not that definitive.
Could OTHER studies that show more potential causation be something that would convince me/ anyone that exercise helps? Potentially, sure, just depends on what the study finds, you know?
Now if the question was do I, personally, think exercise helps us as we age? Yeah, I do, but that's just personal belief and what I see around me, but I don't necessarily count that as definitive, you know?
Although just wanted to add - sometimes there is no prioritizing fitness in terms of exercise, either literally or in a practical way. Sometimes, there is just no way to do it.
I have a disorder where people who have it most severely can have the act of exercising (of even getting the heart rate up) set off anaphylaxis. Makes it pretty impossible to exercise, in that case. It's a case of prioritizing fitness, or staying alive.
And with pain, I know many people where even the lightest exercise they've tried to find ramps their pain levels up to the point they can't function. In which case, they can't work or make money or care for their kids, so exercise gets set aside behind other priorities like basic necessities, you know?
Not saying that people can't make choices where exercise could be a priority for them, even if it takes more work, and still choose not to. But I do think that discussing it like it's simply a matter of priority, but as though there aren't other potential serious consequences, downplays the issue.
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My grandma passed away years ago and had dementia. She was Olympic silver medalist in running from the 1932 games. She was fit and active her entire life. Being fit I'd say didn't help her.
I do agree being fit helps slow aging. My mom is a he least active person I know at at 74 is in worse shape than many 90 year olds I curl with. Stay active as much as you can2 -
It’s great that we are talking about it! Definitely more research is needed! I don’t think society in general gives the different types of dementias as much attention as needed, it’s really a terrible and sadly increasingly common group of illnesses
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Dr. Annette Bosworth, author of "Any Way You Can", tells of the diabetics who, before the invention of industrial manufactured insulin, were required to eat very high fat diets. They were the first wave of keto people. Some of them maintained that high fat diet, grew old, and died of natural causes. Autopsies showed the complete absence of amyloid plaques in their brains.
This isn't a properly controlled study, but damn, it's interesting.4
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