In Case You Haven't Heard…

Having the highest levels of physical activity in midlife and late life was associated with a 41% and 45% lower risk of dementia, respectively, found a study published Nov. 19 in JAMA Network Open . Midlife was defined as ages 45 to 64, while late life was ages 65 to 88, CNN reported Nov. 29. With an estimated 57 million people worldwide having dementia and nearly triple that number expected by 2050, the authors “wanted to investigate whether the impact of physical activity on dementia risk differed or stayed consistent across the adult life course,” said Dr. Phillip Hwang, lead study author and assistant professor in the Department of Epidemiology at Boston University School of Public Health, via email. Physical activity levels in early adult life weren't associated with dementia risk in either direction, the authors found. They also discovered that even for older adults who had the strongest genetic risk factor for Alzheimer's disease — the APOE ε4 gene — high physical activity was still linked with a 66% lower risk of dementia.