Have High Blood Pressure? Weekly Workout May Lower Risk to Your Brain
By Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
FRIDAY, June 7, 2024 -- Vigorous exercise more than once a week can lower the risk of dementia for people with high blood pressure, a new clinical trial shows.
People who engaged each week in vigorous physical activity had lower rates of mild cognitive impairment and dementia despite their high blood pressure, according to results published June 6 in Alzheimer’s & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer’s Association,
Examples of vigorous activity include hiking uphill, running, fast bicycling, swimming laps, aerobic dancing, jumping rope and heavy yardwork, according to the American Heart Association.
“We know that physical exercise offers many benefits, including lowering blood pressure, improving heart health and potentially delaying cognitive decline,” said lead researcher Dr. Richard Kazibwe, an assistant professor of internal medicine at Wake Forest University School of Medicine in Winston-Salem, N.C.
This new study offers an idea of how much exercise is needed to reap these benefits, Kazibwe added.
The clinical trial involved more than 9,300 participants with high blood pressure aged 50 and older, recruited from about 100 hospitals and clinics throughout the United States.
Early results published in 2019 showed that tight control of blood pressure significantly reduced the risk of developing mild cognitive impairment, a precursor of early dementia, researchers said.
For this new report, researchers analyzed the effect of exercise on brain health in these folks.
Nearly 60% of study participants reported vigorous physical activity at least once a week, even among those 75 and older, Kazibwe noted.
“It is welcome news that a higher number of older adults are engaging in physical exercise,” Kazibwe said in a Wake Forest news release. “This also suggests that older adults who recognize the importance of exercise may be more inclined to exercise at higher intensity,”
However, the protective impact of vigorous exercise on brain health was more pronounced for those younger than 75, results showed.
Sources
- Wake Forest University, news release, June 6, 2024
Disclaimer: Statistical data in medical articles provide general trends and do not pertain to individuals. Individual factors can vary greatly. Always seek personalized medical advice for individual healthcare decisions.
© 2024 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
Posted June 2024
Read this next
Hormone Therapy for Breast Cancer May Lower Dementia Risk
TUESDAY, July 16, 2024 -- Hormone therapy for breast cancer might reduce a woman’s later risk of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease, a new study finds. Overall, hormone...
Blood Test Shows Promise in Spotting Preeclampsia Before Symptoms Surface
TUESDAY, July 16, 2024 -- An experimental blood test could help detect pregnant women at increased risk for preeclampsia, a serious high blood pressure condition that can harm...
AI Better at Predicting Progression to Alzheimer's Than Standard Care
MONDAY, July 15, 2024 -- An AI program has proven better than doctors at sifting through the telltale signs that indicate who with early dementia will progress to...
More news resources
- FDA Medwatch Drug Alerts
- Daily MedNews
- News for Health Professionals
- New Drug Approvals
- New Drug Applications
- Drug Shortages
- Clinical Trial Results
- Generic Drug Approvals
Subscribe to our newsletter
Whatever your topic of interest, subscribe to our newsletters to get the best of Drugs.com in your inbox.
