🧠 Midlife brain stuff

Your weekly roundup of hopefully helpful things

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🏃‍♀️ Exercise + dementia risk

A growing body of research highlights the strong link between physical activity and brain health, with new studies suggesting that regular exercise may significantly reduce the risk of dementia and other neurological conditions.

• A preliminary study to be presented at the American Academy of Neurology’s 77th Annual Meeting found that individuals engaging in moderate to vigorous physical activity had a 14% to 40% lower risk of developing dementia, stroke, anxiety, depression, and sleep disorders, while sedentary behavior increased risk by up to 54%.

• Another study, published in The Journal of the American Medical Directors Association, analyzed nearly 90,000 adults in the UK and found that just 35 minutes of moderate to vigorous activity per week was linked to a 41% lower risk of dementia, with benefits increasing up to 69% for those exercising more than 140 minutes weekly. Even frail older adults saw cognitive protection, rein…