Staying physically active in middle age and keeping blood sugar under control may slow cognitive decline significantly in later life, according to new research from UT Health San Antonio. The findings also point to differences in which factors matter most depending on a person's ethnic background.
The study, published July 23 in Alzheimer's & Dementia: Behavior & Socioeconomics of Aging, analyzed data from 402 adults in San Antonio. Their average age was 57.9, and 58.5 percent were women. Of the participants, 52 percent were Hispanic and the rest were non-Hispanic white. Researchers tracked how cardiovascular health factors in midlife related to changes in thinking and memory over time.
The results varied by ethnicity. Physical activity was particularly linked to slower cognitive decline among Hispanic participants. Lower fasting blood glucose levels showed a stronger connection to slower decline among non-Hispanic white participants. The study is among the first to examine how these cardiovascular health factors affect cognitive aging differently across ethnic groups.
Scientists already knew that cardiovascular problems in midlife raise the risk of dementia later on. This study built on that foundation by looking at specific, measurable factors and tracking how they played out across two distinct populations over time.
"By improving cardiovascular health through modifiable lifestyle changes, there is a potential to meaningfully alleviate the public health burden of Alzheimer's disease and other dementias, particularly in high-risk populations," said Claudia Satizabal, PhD, associate professor in the Department of Population Health Sciences at UT Health San Antonio and its Glenn Biggs Institute for Alzheimer's and Neurodegenerative Diseases.
Satizabal co-led the study with Chen-Pin Wang, PhD, also an associate professor in the same department. All authors are affiliated with either the Glenn Biggs Institute or The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley.
The findings arrive as dementia cases continue to rise. The study notes that 6.7 million people in the United States currently have Alzheimer's disease. Researchers have increasingly focused on risk factors that can be changed through behavior, since there is still no cure for the disease itself.
