If you have passed your 60th birthday and your gait is not the same as before, a study has found that you need to check your brain function.
Researchers from Mona Era in Australia and the University of Minnesota in the United States tested walking speed, language ability, and information processing ability on 17,000 men and women over the age of 65 in two countries with good health.
After seven years of follow-up, the researchers found that older adults who lost more than 5% of their walking speed each year along with memory loss had a higher risk of dementia.
A similar conclusion was also reached in a joint study in the United States, Sweden, and Italy in 2020 on 9,000 men and women over the age of 60 in the United States.
The association between decreased gait speed and decreased brain function is because the right hippocampus controls both areas. The right hippocampus deals with learning, memory, and the ability to navigate. In other words, as the right hippocampus shrinks with age, it becomes difficult to learn new things and process information, while walking speed also decreases.
However, not everyone will develop dementia just because their cognitive abilities are worse than before. According to the National Institute on Aging, only 10% to 20% of people over the age of 65 with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) will develop dementia within one year.
Researcher Taya Collier advised, “To prevent atrophy of the hippocampus and improve memory, it is good to do aerobic exercise such as swimming, biking, and dancing.”
The results of this study (Association of Dual Decline in Cognition and Gait Speed With Risk of Dementia in Older Adults) were published by JAMA Network Open and reported by UPI News.
Reporter Lee Yong-jae [email protected]
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