Long sitting promotes dementia

How does sedentary behavior affect the risk of dementia??

More and more people suffer from dementia. Mostly, the disease occurs only at an advanced age. Researchers now found that sedentary lifestyle and sedentary behavior increase the risk of dementia in middle-aged adults.

Researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles found in their recent research that reducing exercise deficiency may be a potential target for brain health improvement interventions in Alzheimer's disease patients. The experts published the results of their study in the English-language journal "PLOS One".

Most people spend a lot of time sitting during the day. Too long regular sitting can have an impact on the risk of developing dementia. (Image: Jacek Chabraszewski / fotolia.com)

What is dementia??

In various diseases of the brain, a so-called dementia can occur. Dementia-related deficits include cognitive as well as emotional and social skills. These changes then affect the social and professional functions of those affected. Especially the short-term memory, but also language, motor skills and thinking are affected. In some forms of dementia also changes the personality structure of the patient. The most characteristic feature of dementia is probably the loss of thinking skills that have already been learned in the course of life. Dementia is reversible in some forms of the disease. For most forms, however, it is only possible to slow the progression of the disease.

Study included 35 participants

If you move a little and have sedentary behavior most of the time, it may cause dementia to develop in your middle age. This found out medical doctors in their current investigation. For their study, the researchers examined a total of 35 people between the ages of 45 and 75 years. Participants were asked about their physical activity and the average number of hours they spent sitting during the day during the last few weeks.

Participants had to undergo an MRI scan

Each subject had to undergo a high-resolution MRI scan, which allowed a detailed view of the medial temporal lobe. This brain region is involved in the formation of new memories.

What causes the thinning of the medial temporal lobes?

The researchers found that prolonged sitting is a significant predictor of the thinning of the medial temporal lobes, and that even at high levels, physical activity is insufficient to counterbalance the harmful effects of sitting. This thinning of the medial temporal lobes may be a precursor to cognitive decline and dementia in middle-aged and older adults, explain the authors.

Study showed only one association

Reduction of sedentary lifestyle may be a potential target for brain health improvement interventions in people with Alzheimer's risk, says Prabha Siddarth of the University of California, Los Angeles. However, the results of the study do not prove that too much sitting leads to thinner brain structures. Much more, they show an association between more sitting hours and thinner regions in the brain, adds Siddarth.

Further research is needed

At the present time, the causes of some forms of dementia are already identified, but there are still many forms of the disease that are not fully understood yet. For these forms, there is no undoubted unambiguous knowledge of the origin. For this reason, further research on possible relationships with the current study topic is urgently needed, the researchers concluded. (As)