Mid-Life Physical Activity and Alzheimer’s Disease

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Study finds compelling reasons to start or increase a mid-life fitness program.

Looking for new ways to motivate your mid-life clients? Let them know that regular physical activity during midlife may help prevent Alzheimer’s disease. A new study in Alzheimer’s & Dementia reports that increasing physical activity levels between ages 45 and 65 can slow harmful brain changes, while inactivity may accelerate them.

Researchers from the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal) followed 337 cognitively healthy adults in mid-life with a family history of Alzheimer’s disease for four-years. “We used physical activity questionnaires to assess changes in activity over a four-year period and neuroimaging tests to analyze the effects of exercise on brain structure and function,” says lead study author Müge Akıncı, PhD, researcher at ISGlobal and the BBRC.  Participants who met World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines of 150 to 300 minutes of moderate aerobic activity or 75 to 150 minutes of vigorous activity had lower levels of beta-amyloid plaque, the protein that impairs neural communication in the brain and is connected with Alzheimer’s.

Active participants, even those who did less than the recommended amounts, also had greater cortical thickness in memory-related areas of the brain, an important marker of cognitive health. “Any amount of exercise, no matter how minimal, has health benefits,” says Akinci.