📰🧠🔬 DEMENTIA STUDY HIGHLIGHTS – Physical Activity Over the Adult Life Course and Risk of Dementia in the Framingham Heart Study by Marino FR., et al.

Does the timing of physical activity matter for dementia risk? At what stage of adult life is physical activity most strongly linked to a lower risk of developing dementia?

This study investigated whether physical activity at different stages of adult life—early adulthood, midlife, and late life—is associated with the risk of developing all-cause dementia and Alzheimer disease dementia. Physical activity was measured using the physical activity index (PAI), a composite score in which higher values indicate greater overall activity.

𝗞𝗲𝘆 𝗙𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀:
Early adulthood activity → No significant association with dementia risk
Midlife physical activity → 41% lower risk of all-cause dementia
Late-life physical activity → 45% lower risk of all-cause dementia

𝗞𝗲𝘆 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲𝗮𝘄𝗮𝘆𝘀:
Promoting physical activity during 𝗺𝗶𝗱𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗲 may play an important role in delaying or preventing dementia. The timing of intervention appears to matter.

Note: Early adult life (ages 26–44), Midlife (ages 45–64), Late life (ages 65–88)

📄 Access the full article at: Marino FR, Lyu C, Li Y, Liu T, Au R, Hwang PH. Physical Activity Over the Adult Life Course and Risk of Dementia in the Framingham Heart Study. JAMA Netw Open. 2025;8(11):e2544439. https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2841638. This is an open-access article under a CC BY 4.0 license.