Dementia occurs less often: scientists have found out how many steps you need to take per day

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The risk of dementia is halved in those who take about 10,000 steps per day and prefer intensive walks. This is indicated by the results of a study conducted by a team of scientists from Denmark and Australia.

They used data stored in the British Biobank, where a group of more than 100,000 people agreed to wear an accelerometer on their wrist 24 hours a day, seven days a week to measure physical activity. Before the start of the experiment, no person suffered from senile dementia.

The researchers estimated the optimal number of steps at which a significant reduction in the risk of dementia was observed, and the minimum number, which was defined as the number of steps at which the risk of dementia was reduced by 50% of the maximum. The regression models were adjusted for age, gender, lifestyle and comorbidities.

As a result, data from 78,430 people with an average age of 61.1 years (55.3% women) were taken as the basis, the study says. They were followed for a total of 6.9 years. During this time, 866 participants developed dementia at an average age of 68.3 years.

The researchers made a reservation that there are often significant delays in the diagnosis of dementia, and this study did not formally include a clinical assessment of the disease and an assessment of cognitive functions. Because of this, its prevalence could be higher.

According to the results of the experiment, the optimal number for reducing the risk of developing dementia was 9826 steps per day. The minimum number was 3826 steps per day, which was associated with a 25% reduction in the incidence of dementia. High intensity of walking played a role in this.