Exercising in mid-life reduces risk of dementia.

Several studies have looked at middle-aged people and the effects of physical exercise on their thinking and memory in later life. Combining the results of 11 studies shows that regular exercise can significantly reduce the risk of developing dementia by about 30 per cent. For Alzheimer's disease specifically, the risk was reduced by 45 per cent.

One study looked at health behaviors of over 2,000 men in Wales and followed them for 35 years. Of the five behaviors that were assessed (regular exercise, not smoking, moderate alcohol intake, healthy body weight and healthy diet), exercise had the greatest effect in terms of reducing dementia risk. Overall, people who followed four or five of the above behaviors were up to 60 per cent less likely to develop dementia.
In the short term, aerobic exercise can also improve the performance of healthy adults on thinking tests. Pulling together the results of 29 clinical trials, a month or more of regular aerobic exercise resulted in improvements in memory, attention and processing speed when compared with regular non-aerobic exercise such as stretching and toning.
Source: https://www.alzheimers.org.uk/about-dementia/risk-...

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