Intensive Exercise May Delay Cognitive Decline by 10 Years by:Sue Hughes
Two new analyses from a study in a diverse racial US population have added to evidence that good cardiovascular health and physical exercise can slow cognitive decline in later years. The latest findings come from new analyses of the Northern Manhattan Study (NOMAS), a population-based prospective study originally designed to evaluate the effects of various risk factors on the incidence of stroke in a racially/ethnically diverse community cohort. For the two new analyses, published as two separate papers, researchers from the University of Miami, Florida, and Columbia University, New York, re-examined the data on various risk factors and how they relate to later cognitive function. In the study of physical activity, published online in Neurology on March 23, individuals who reported low levels of leisure time physical activity in their mid-60s showed greater cognitive decline when assessed several years later compared with those who exercised to a moderate or in...