PHILADELPHIA—It is believed that social engagement and activity can help improve physical and emotional health. Two recent studies presented at the 53rd Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Neurology found that moderate exercise and participation in social activities also can improve cognitive health.

According to results from the Honolulu Asia Aging Study, the risk of dementia was seven times lower among men who lead highly active and social lives compared with men who lead less active, more socially isolated lives. Although the link between social participation and cognitive health is not understood, it appears that social factors—such as living with a spouse, having close friends, taking care of household tasks, and working—can help delay the onset of dementia, said Jennifer L. Balfour, PhD, and a Post-doctoral Fellow at the National Institute on Aging, Bethesda, Maryland.

In addition, elderly women who walk are less likely to develop dementia, said Kristine Yaffe, MD, PhD, from the University of California, San Francisco. Her study revealed a 13% reduction in the risk of cognitive decline for every extra mile walked per week. “So you don’t need to be running marathons. There was a ‘dose relationship,’ which showed that even a little is good, but more is better,” she said.

RISKS FOR ELDERLY MEN

By three years, there were 123 cases of incident dementia. One quarter of the cases had vascular dementia and 54% had Alzheimer’s dementia, the researchers noted.

The men with higher social engagements at baseline were younger, better educated, and less depressed, but they were not necessarily in better health. With each additional social tie, the odds ratio for Alzheimer’s dementia decreased by 17% and the odds ratio of vascular dementia decreased by 30%, Dr. Balfour reported.

Men with low scores on both productive physical activity and social engagement measures were seven times more likely to have dementia than were men who had high scores. “It appears that late-life participation in social and productive activities may help protect against risk of incident dementia,” Dr. Balfour said.

RISKS FOR ELDERLY WOMEN

In her group’s study, nearly 6,000 mostly white community-dwelling women (ages 65 and older) were prospectively followed for six to eight years. The researchers measured the number of blocks walked per week and the number of kilocalories expended per week. “We tried to look both at recreation activity and routine activity,” she explained. “It turns out that among women the most common leisure activity is walking. It’s easy to do and it does not require fancy equipment, so it seemed to be a good thing to look at.” Cognitive decline was defined as a change of three or more points on the modified Mini-Mental Status Exam.

There was a large range of physical activity among the women. About 10% of the women said they never walked and about 10% reported being very active. “Not surprisingly, most people fit somewhere in between,” she said.

In addition to developing treatments to slow the progression of dementia, it is important to test whether social and environmental factors can delay the onset of dementia, the researchers concluded.

NR