Walking pace and handgrip strength can indicate dementia risk Dementia Walking Aging Brain Diabetes Genetic PhysicalActivity Research UKBiobank AlzheimersRes
By Dr. Liji Thomas, MDJan 15 2023Reviewed by Danielle Ellis, B.Sc. With the rapid and advancing aging of the world's population, dementia has become so prevalent that 50 million people worldwide suffer from its symptoms. In order to predict and make a timely diagnosis of dementia, reliable biomarkers need to be identified, as well as modifying factors such as age and other serological or lifestyle factors.
Walking pace is a sound and sensitive preliminary indicator of waning health and function in older adults. Studies have demonstrated a negative association between walking pace and dementia risk. Similarly, handgrip strength reflects muscular strength overall, with a weak handgrip predicting a higher risk of adverse health outcomes.
Therefore, examining both together might provide a better picture of likely health outcomes than each of them individually. In fact, this has been shown to be the case with cardiovascular disease and hypertension but not with cognitive decline, where only walking pace showed a relationship. What did the study show? During this period, there was new-onset dementia from any cause in 0.8% of patients, approximately 4000. The risk was highest among those who walked slowly. At the same time, it was reduced by ~40% among those with average or brisk walking pace after adjusting for age, lifestyle factors, and socioeconomic factors, besides family history. The risk for Alzheimer's disease was reduced by 35% and by half for vascular dementia, both of new onset, with the same model.
What are the implications? The results of this study may reinforce the importance of intact walking and handgrip activity in reducing the risk of new-onset dementia. Brain areas that control these functions overlap, perhaps explaining observed associations.
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