Physical activity and healthy blood sugar levels during midlife may be linked to a significantly slower decline in thinking abilities later in life, according to new research from UT Health San Antonio, the academic health center of The University of Texas at San Antonio. The findings suggest that exercise may be especially important for Hispanic adults. Scientists already know that cardiovascular problems in midlife can raise the risk of cognitive decline and dementia.
This study is among the first to investigate how specific cardiovascular health factors may relate to cognitive aging across different ethnic groups. Researchers analyzed 402 people from San Antonio. Of the participants, 52% were Hispanic, and the rest were non-Hispanic white.
Their mean age was 57.9, and 58.5% were women. The findings varied by ethnicity. Physical activity was particularly associated with slower cognitive decline among Hispanic participants, while lower fasting blood glucose levels were linked to slower cognitive decline among non-Hispanic white participants.
"By improving cardiovascular health through modifiable lifestyle changes, there is a potential to meaningfully alleviate the public health burden of Alzheimer's disease and other dementias, particularly in high-risk populations," said Claudia Satizabal, PhD, associate professor in the Department of Population Health Sciences at UT Health San Antonio and its Glenn Biggs Institute for Alzheimer's and Neurodegenerative Diseases, where she leads the Population Neuroscience Core. Satizabal is co-senior author of the study with Chen-Pin Wang, PhD, associate professor-research in the Department of Population Health Sciences. The research, titled "Longitudinal association between midlife cardiovascular health and cognitive change in a bi-ethnic cohort," was published July 23 by Alzheimer's & Dementia: Behavior & Socioeconomics of Aging.
All of the study authors are affiliated with either the Glenn Biggs Institute or The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. As people around the world live longer and the proportion of older adults grows, age-related conditions such as dementia are becoming increasingly common. The study notes that 6.7 million people in the United States currently have Alzheimer's disease.
At the same time, research increasingly suggests that many risk factors for cognitive decline and dementia can be modified. Recent estimates indicate that nearly 40% of Alzheimer's cases may be connected to such factors. Cardiovascular health, in particular, has emerged as an important influence on how the brain ages.
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