Physical Activity


Physical Activity Midlife or Late Life Linked to Lower Dementia Risk

Higher physical activity in midlife and late life—but not early adulthood—is associated with a significantly lower risk of both all-cause and Alzheimer disease dementia. In this prospective analysis from the US Framingham Heart Study Offspring cohort, 1526 early-adult, 1943 midlife, and 885 late-life participants were followed for up to 37 […]


Physical Activity Promising as a Modifiable AD Intervention

Higher physical activity may slow cognitive and functional decline in older adults at risk for Alzheimer’s disease (AD) by reducing tau accumulation rather than amyloid burden. In a study of cognitively unimpaired older adults with pedometer-measured step counts, greater physical activity was linked to slower decline among those with elevated […]


Dose Response of Physical Activity in CVD and Mortality

Two recent studies highlight the importance of physical activity volume and intensity in reducing cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk and improving longevity. The first study analyzed data from over 24,000 middle-aged and older non-exercisers in the UK Biobank, examining the effects of incidental physical activity (IPA)—unstructured daily movement outside formal exercise—on […]


Brain’s Stress-Related Activity Mediated CVD Benefit of Physical Activity

A US cohort study suggested that physical activity (PA) appears to reduce cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk in part by acting through the brain’s stress-related activity. The study included a total of 50,359 adults (median age 60 years; 40.1% male). Stress-related neural activity was measured as the ratio of resting amygdalar-to-cortical […]


CVD Risk High while “Fat but Fit”

A Spanish observational study suggests that, although physical activity (PA) mitigates partly the detrimental effects of overweight/obesity on the risk of cardiovascular diseases (CVD), excess body weight per se is associated with a remarkable increase in the prevalence of major risk factors. The data from 527 662 participants [32% female; mean […]


Physical Activity Lowered Sedentary Death Risk

A harmonized meta-analysis concluded that longer sedentary time is associated with higher mortality in less active individuals when measured by accelerometry. About 30–40min of moderate-to-vigorous-intensity physical activity (MVPA) per day attenuate the association between sedentary time and risk of death. The analysis included 44370 middle-aged and older men and women […]


Heavy Workouts Not Linked to High Mortality

A US prospective observational study showed that high levels of physical activity are associated with prevalent coronary artery calcification (CAC) but are not associated with increased all-cause or cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality after a decade of follow-up, even in the presence of clinically significant CAC levels. The study included 21 […]