Runners may be lowering their risk of dying from Alzheimer’s every time they hit the pavement.
Researchers in California found that running more than 15 miles a week, as well as other heart-healthy habits, could reduce the risk of dying from Alzheimer’s disease.
For the study, researchers at the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory in Berkeley, Calif., looked at more than 153,000 men and women enrolled in the National Runners’ and Walkers’ Health Studies, which began in the 1990s. Researchers followed the participants for an average of 12 years, and found participants who ran more than 15.3 miles a week had a 40 percent lower risk of Alzheimer’s death. That’s about double the amount of exercise currently recommended by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Walking also reduced the risk, as long as the energy expended was equal to running more than 15.3 miles per week, researchers found.
Why is Alzheimer’s on the rise?
About 5 million Americans have Alzheimer’s disease; more than half a million Americans die from the disease every year, which is more than breast and cancers combined, according to the Alzheimer’s Association. As Americans live longer and deaths from heart disease and cancers decline, Alzheimer’s deaths are increasing.
Other prevention options
The study, led by researcher Paul Williams, also found that people who ate three or more pieces of fruit a day were 60 percent less likely to die of Alzheimer’s than people who ate less than a piece of fruit a day. But Williams said it wasn’t clear if the lower risk was due to the fruit itself or the fact that people who eat lots of fruit are also more likely to have other good health habits.
Williams and his colleagues also found that people who took statins, which are prescribed to lower cholesterol, had a 40 percent lower risk of Alzheimer’s death.
He stressed the study only looked at healthy habits’ impact on preventing Alzheimer’s death, not on preventing the development of the disease itself.
But, the Alzheimer’s Association and other experts have long recommended following a lifestyle that encourages good cardiovascular health in order to protect the brain and reduce the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease.
The Berkeley study was published in December in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease.
