Moderate physical exercise in midlife helps prevent memory disorders in old age

A study shows that moderately vigorous physical activity in midlife helps prevent memory disorders such as dementia in old age, the University of Helsinki said on Friday.

The conclusion was based on a long-term study of 3050 twins from the Finnish Twin Cohort.

The twins' physical activity information was obtained in their 40s through questionnaires, and their cognition was evaluated by telephone interviews some 30 years later.

The researchers compared the memory and thinking related functions of the physically active twins with those of their inactive siblings.

It was found that moderately vigorous physical activity at midlife is linked with better cognition in old age.

Increasing volume of physical activity was not necessarily associated with increased memory benefits. Instead, a moderate amount of physical activity was sufficient. The most inactive twins were at a higher risk for memory disorder, said the university.

The association was unrelated to hypertension, smoking, education level, sex, obesity and binge in middle age.

The study, published in the latest issue of the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, was carried out by the University of Helsinki in cooperation with the University of Jyvaskyla and the University of Turku of Finland. Endit