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Hop on treadmill. Keep your mind.

Meredith Dobrosielski, 36, right, exercises on a treadmill in a lab as part of a health study about pregnant women and the effects of exercise in Baltimore. Dobrosielski, an avid runner for several years, was in her 31st week of pregnancy. Dr. Linds Szymanski, maternal fetal medicine fellow, left, is running the tests. (McClatchy-Tribune)
Rebecca Nappi
Meredith Dobrosielski, 36, right, exercises on a treadmill in a lab as part of a health study about pregnant women and the effects of exercise in Baltimore. Dobrosielski, an avid runner for several years, was in her 31st week of pregnancy. Dr. Linds Szymanski, maternal fetal medicine fellow, left, is running the tests. (McClatchy-Tribune)
Meredith Dobrosielski, 36, right, exercises on a treadmill in a lab as part of a health study about pregnant women and the effects of exercise in Baltimore. Dobrosielski, an avid runner for several years, was in her 31st week of pregnancy. Dr. Linds Szymanski, maternal fetal medicine fellow, left, is running the tests. (McClatchy-Tribune)

An Annals of Internal Medicine report showed a strong link between exercise and a lower risk of dementia.

From the Medline Plus press release:

Who was studied? 19,458 healthy middle-aged people who had a treadmill exercise test as part of a preventive health clinic visit.

How was the study done? The researchers divided the participants into those who were most and least fit, defined as the amount of time people ran on a treadmill. They then followed the participants for many years, beyond the time they reached age 65 years, to see who went on to develop dementia. The researchers then compared the number of people who had dementia among the most and least fit.

What did the researchers find? The most fit study participants were much less likely to develop dementia than those who were less fit.

(S-R archive photo)

* This story was originally published as a post from the blog "EndNotes." Read all stories from this blog