Lifelong Physical Activity Helps to Retain Cognitive Skills

Previous research has suggested that people who are physically active in mid- and late life are at lower risks of developing dementia and other forms of cognitive impairment as they age.  Laura Middleton, from Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre (Ontario, Canada), and colleagues studied 9,344 women residing in 4 US states, to assess the impact of physical activity at different life stages on cognitive skills.  The team compared the physical activity at teenage, age 30, age 50, and late life against cognition, finding that only teenage physical activity status remained significantly associated with cognitive performance in old age. The researchers also found that women who were physically inactive at teenage but became physically active at age 30 and age 50 had significantly reduced odds of cognitive impairment relative to those who remained physically inactive. Writing that: “Women who reported being physically active at any point over the life course, especially as teenagers, had a lower likelihood of cognitive impairment in late life,” the team urges that: “Interventions should promote physical activity early in life and throughout the life course.”