Study: 5 More Minutes of Increased Physical Activity Can Lower Dementia Risk

Senior couple jogging in the summer park

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Moving Matters! Did you know that physical activity directly impacts your health?

The more work you put into your body, the more you reap the long– and short-term health benefits of exercise.

That’s true at any age, but especially in older adults, who experience higher risk for diseases such as heart disease and cancer.

One of the most serious diseases many older individuals face is dementia and Alzheimer’s, which affects nearly 1 out of every 9 seniors in the US as of 2023, according to the Texas Department of Health and Human Services.

But with a well-balanced diet and regular exercise, symptoms have been known to ease and those who haven’t been diagnosed with the disease show a reduced risk for developing it.

In fact, a new study published by the Journal of the American Medical Directors Association suggests that increasing physical activity by as little as five minutes per day can decrease risk for dementia in older adults.

Let’s dive into the study, its findings, and what they mean for older adults, including older Latinos.

Study Findings

In Moderate-to-Vigorous Physical Activity at any Dose Reduces All-Cause Dementia Risk Regardless of Frailty Status, researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health set out to measure the minimal level of physical activity needed to make a difference in the health of seniors.

“Reaching the moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) recommendations of 150 minutes a week is difficult for older adults, particularly among those living with frailty and its associated risk of dementia,” the researchers wrote.

By studying the wearable fitness tracker data of nearly 80,000 adults, 735 of them who were developing dementia, researchers concluded that “engaging in as little as 35 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity per week, compared to zero minutes per week, was associated with a 41% lower risk of developing dementia over an average four-year follow-up period,” according to the study’s accompanying news release.

What’s more, more activity was linked to lower dementia risk in general — even in frail older adults.

In cases with higher amounts of physical activity, between 35 to 69.9 minutes each week, dementia risks were 60% lower.

Those who exercised 70 to 139.9 minutes each week had a 63% lower risk and those who exercised for 140 minutes or more a week had a 69% lower risk for dementia.

Even individuals with the lowest activity amount, between 1 to 34.9 minutes, had a risk reduction of about 41%.

“This suggests that even frail or nearly frail older adults might be able to reduce their dementia risk through low-dose exercise,” lead study author Amal Wanigatunga told the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health news office.

Benefits of Physical Activity for Older Adults

The recommended moderate aerobic physical activity for older adults is 150 minutes a week. Broken down, that’s 30 minutes a day for 5 days.

Portrait of elderly people doing exercises for press with pilates ball during group class in fitness studio Alternatively, they can engage in 75 minutes of vigorous activity or any combination thereof.

Additionally, older adults require at least 2 days of activities that work to strengthen muscles and improve balance.

Activities to participate in include moderate-intensity aerobic activities brisk walking, swimming, cycling, and water aerobics. Strength training exercises like bicep curls, shoulder presses, squats, and leg lifts will help strengthen weaker muscles. Activities that focus on balance include standing on one leg, side leg raises, heel raises or walking heel-to-toe, or standing from a sitting position.

Older adults who engage in physical activity can reap immediate health benefits, such as improved quality of sleep, reduced anxiety, and reduced blood pressure, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Long-term benefits of exercise include lowering your risk for heart disease, stroke, certain types of cancer, and type 2 diabetes, helps you maintain a healthy weight, aids those who are older in living independently longer, improves bone health, and reduces the risk of falls.

For more information about older adults and exercise visit the CDC website.

Make Moving Matter for Everyone

As part of the initiative to get 27 million Americans moving by 2027, Salud America! at UT Health San Antonio is partnering with Active People, Healthy Nation and the Moving Matters campaign to share what more physical activity can do for your health.

The goal is to get 10 million adults and 2 million young people to meet the minimum aerobic physical activity guideline.

This also includes improving physical activity in people who are recovering from cancer, pregnant women, people suffering from chronic disease, and children.

Find more activities and physical activity recommendations for your age and/or health condition.

Try some of these tips to help get you and your family moving toward a healthier you and explore some of the movement guidelines you should be striving to reach.

For ways to overcome barriers to weekly physical activity goals visit the CDC website.