A Walk A Day Could Keep Alzheimer’s Away, Says Harvard Study

If

you have been thinking of getting in the steps and starting your routine of crushing 10,000 steps everyday, there might be one more benefit surfacing (on top of many others) that will make you leave that couch right now! Walking, as the new Harvard study has found, helps in keeping your memory sharp and brain young, too while it burns off the excess calories. This new study, published in Nature Medicine by researchers at Mass General Brigham, an affiliate of Harvard Medical School, found that increasing your steps, just by a little amount, could slow down the progression of Alzheimer’s disease in people at higher risk.

So, if you have been thinking of getting back to your fitness journey, this is a sign for you from both–the world of science and your older self.The research in spotlight here analysed the data from nearly 300 adults aged between 50 to 90 who were a part of the Harvard Aging Brain Study. All participants were cognitively healthy when the study started and were followed for up to 14 years. Brain scans were used, through which researchers tracked two key Alzheimer’s proteins (amyloid-beta and tau) and measured participants' daily steps using pedometers.

Here are the results from the study:

• People who walked 3,000-5,000 steps per day experienced a three year delay of cognitive decline
• People who managed to walk 5,000-7,000 steps per day experienced a seven year delay of cognitive decline
• And for those who are couch potatoes, the brain scans had a faster buildup of tau proteins and a quicker decline in memory skills as well.

So, it is clear, a brisk walk in the evening might just be the answer to keep your brain and cognitive skills all tuned up! “This sheds light on why some people who appear to be on an Alzheimer’s disease trajectory don't decline as quickly as others,” said Dr. Jasmeer Chhatwal, senior author of the study.