A study followed 191 women from middle age to assess the relationship between cardiovascular fitness and later risk of dementia. The women were divided into high, moderate, and low fitness groups based on exercise tests in middle age. Over 44 years of follow up, those in the high fitness group had the lowest rates of developing dementia, at 5%, compared to 25% for the moderate group and 32% for the low fitness group. Being highly fit in middle age was linked to an 88% lower likelihood of developing dementia later in life. While the study does not prove fitness prevents dementia, it adds to evidence connecting cardiovascular health to brain health.

1. 8/7/2018 Midlife fitness linked to less dementia later in life - Harvard Health
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Harvard Heart Letter
Midlife tness linked to less dementia later in life
Research we're watching
Published: June, 2018
Image: © radyreese/Getty Images
High cardiovascular tness during middle age may lower the likelihood of dementia late in life, according to a decades-long study.
For the study, researchers asked 191 middle-aged women to ride an exercise bike until they were exhausted. They then grouped the women
according to their peak cardiovascular capacity. Just 40 women met the criteria for high tness, while 92 were in the medium category, and 59
were in the low category.
Over the following 44 years, the women were tested for dementia six times. Five percent of the highly t women developed dementia, compared
with 25% and 32% respectively, for those in the moderate and low tness groups. Highly t women were 88% less likely to develop dementia
than even the moderately t women.
The study, published April 10, 2018, in Neurology, doesn't prove that being highly t prevents dementia. But the ndings add to an ever-growing
body of research connecting heart health to brain health.
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2. 8/7/2018 Midlife fitness linked to less dementia later in life - Harvard Health
https://www.health.harvard.edu/heart-health/midlife-fitness-linked-to-less-dementia-later-in-life 2/2
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