Recent research, published in JAMA Neurology, has demonstrated that walking around 4,000 steps a day may reduce the risk of developing dementia by 25%. Moreover, increasing the daily step count up to about 10,000 could halve the risk.
For their study, scientists analyzed the UK Biobank data of 78,430 participants, 44.7% were male and 55.3% female, with an average age of 61.1 years. All participants were free of cardiovascular disease and dementia at the baseline. Researchers followed up with participants after a median of 6.9 years (6.4–7.5 years).
The analysis revealed that both the number of steps and stepping intensity were associated with lower dementia risk. For the most significant benefit — a 50% reduction — participants had to walk around 9,800 steps on a daily basis. However, when the number of steps increased even more, no further benefit was seen.