Why it’s NEVER too late to start exercising

Exercising just once a month at any age can help stave off dementia in later life, a study found.

Keeping active throughout adulthood is the best bet for good brain health in retirement but even taking up exercise in your 60s is beneficial, research suggests.

In the first study to look specifically at age, exercise and brain health in retirement, researchers from University College London wanted to see whether timing of active lifestyles had an impact.

They found those who regularly exercise as they age are more likely to have good brain health than those who exercise in spells then give up.

But any level of exercise – from brisk walks to gym workouts – gave participants boosted brain power when compared to those who did not do any, they said.

Researchers examined data from 1,417 people who were questioned at the time on how much monthly exercise they were doing at age 36, 43, 53, 60-64 and 69.

Depending on their answers, people were categorised as either inactive – no physical activity, moderately active – once to four times per month – and most active, at five or more times, for each time period.

They were then given a series of cognitive tests when they reached 69, which included looking at processing speed and memory.

Those who were physically active at least one to four times a month in all five separate surveys performed the best on the tests, ‘suggesting that being physically active at any time in adulthood, even if participating as little as once per month, is linked with higher cognition,’ write the authors.

This effect was bigger than those who exercised frequently during at least one survey period, but who did not necessarily keep this up across multiple stages of life.

Lead author, Dr Sarah-Naomi James, said: ‘Our study suggests that engaging in any leisure-time physical activity, at any point in adult life, has a positive effect on cognition.

‘This seems to be the case even at light levels of activity, between once to four times a month.

‘What’s more, people who have never been active before, and then start to be active in their 60s, also appear to have better cognitive function than those who were never active.

‘The greatest cognitive effect was seen for those who stayed physically active throughout their life.

‘The effect is accumulative, so the longer an individual is active, the more likely they are to have higher later-life cognitive function.’

Some of the link between exercise and brain health was explained by education, childhood attainment and socio-economic background, the researchers acknowledged in the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry, though the effect remained significant even when these were taken into account.

While there is no certain way to prevent all types of dementia, the NHS recommends exercise, eating a healthy, balanced diet, maintaining a healthy weight, keeping blood pressure under control and stopping smoking can help.

Dr Susan Mitchell, head of policy at Alzheimer’s Research UK, said: ‘This large study, which ran over three decades and which was co-funded by Alzheimer’s Research UK, shows that it’s never too late to start getting active, and how important it is to try and maintain this throughout our lifetime.

‘Crucially it provides strong evidence that the more physically active we are, the greater the benefits are for our brain health.’