If you need another reason to keep active and stay in shape, new research reveals that being physically fit and can protect against mild cognitive impairment. How’s that for some extra motivation?
As reported on technologynetworks.com, at Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Ekaterina Zotcheva’s last study for her doctoral degree was published in the journal Sports Medicine in December. It is just one of three recent studies conducted at NTNU (all of which are based on data from the Generation 100 study from the Cardiac Exercise Reseach Group) that indicated the importance of being in good physical shape as you age.
This study, the world’s largest training study for older adults, has been underway for almost a decade now. ” After the study participants had been exercising for five years, we tested the cognitive function of almost 1000 of them,” shared Zotcheva. “The men and women who had maintained or increased their physical fitness during the study had better brain health than those whose fitness had declined over the five years,” she said. They used the same test that is often use to assess whether people are at risk of developing dementia.
The study revealed that the greater boost to one’s fitness level in the first five years of the study, the lower their probability to develop mild cognitive impairment.
For more on how good physical fitness appears to contribute to a fitter brain, learn about the other two studies at technologynetworks.com.
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