This Much Exercise May Be Enough to Lower Your Dementia Risk
Scientists have churned out a bunch of studies lately about why exercise is important for brain health and may even help to lower your risk of dementia. Now, new research breaks down a specific chain reaction that happens in the body when you work out—and this discovery may even help prevent dementia.
The study, which was published in the journal Aging Cell, suggests that exercise can do your brain health a solid on several fronts. Here’s what you need to know.
Meet the expert: Steven K. Malin, PhD, is an associate professor in the Department of Kinesiology and Health at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School; Scott Kaiser, MD, is a geriatrician and director of geriatric cognitive health for the Pacific Neuroscience Institute at Providence Saint John’s Health Center in Santa Monica, CA
What did the study find?
Researchers followed 21 people with an average age of 60 who also had prediabetes, a condition where blood sugar levels are higher than normal but not high enough to be diagnosed with type 2 diabetes.
During the two-week study, the participants did 12 different 60-minute exercise sessions that were moderate to high intensity. They also had a glucose drink before and after their workouts, and gave blood samples during these times.
After the participants worked out, the researchers discovered that there was an increase in the number of neuronal vesicles, which are special cells released by the brain. Those vesicles, which were once thought to be “cell dust,” help to shuttle molecules like proteins to cells.
In this case, the vesicles carried proteins that are involved in insulin sensitivity—which is the body’s ability to respond to the hormone insulin—to the brain. (Insulin helps your body absorb glucose, aka sugar, from your bloodstream to give you energy.)
This gets a little technical but basically, the study found that exercise improves the ability of brain cells to respond to insulin—and that can help thinking, memory, and brain health, including lowering the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease and similar dementias in the future.
What is the relationship between exercise and insulin sensitivity?
Exercise is believed to help make tissues in the body more sensitive to insulin, according to lead study author Steven K. Malin, PhD, associate professor in the Department of Kinesiology and Health at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School.
As a result, your body can become better at using insulin at lower blood sugar levels, helping you to manage conditions like type 2 diabetes and your overall metabolic health, according to the American Diabetes Association (ADA).
“While skeletal muscle, liver, and adipose tissue are commonly studied in the exercise field, less is known about the brain,” Malin says.
How does this all relate to brain health?
It actually has a lot to do with your noggin. “Insulin is important for brain cells— neurons—to execute various functions, including cognition,” Malin explains. But as you get older, less insulin may appear in your brain.
Insulin has an important role in memory formation, processing speed, recall, and more. If there isn't enough insulin in your brain, brain cells may stop interacting with each other properly, leading to conditions like dementia, Malin says.
“Brain insulin resistance may develop because neurons experience—'see'—less insulin,” Malin says. But doing something to help support insulin sensitivity in your brain by, say, exercising, can help to counteract some of that, he explains. As a result, supporting your body's insulin sensitivity can ultimately boost your brain health and lower the risk of developing dementia, Malin says.
How much exercise actually protects against dementia?
It’s tough to put a hard and fast number on this, but this particular study found that regular workouts over a two-week period made a difference in the brain. “Most evidence suggests that any activity is good,” says Scott Kaiser, MD, is a geriatrician and director of geriatric cognitive health for the Pacific Neuroscience Institute at Providence Saint John’s Health Center in Santa Monica, CA.
Exercise may help lower your dementia risk by about 20%, depending on the type, Malin says. “From this, it seems fair to suggest exercise, along with diet and mental activities, are foundational lifestyle approaches maintain and improve brain health,” Malin says. “Exercise should absolutely be a tool in the toolbox.”
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