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Does exercise in midlife protect against dementia later in life? To evaluate this association, researchers used data from the Cooper Clinic in Dallas, Texas — a practice whose participants generally are healthy and either self-referred or employer-referred for preventive health examinations. The study cohort was >19,000 participants who underwent exercise treadmill tests between 1971 and 2009 (before age 65); their long-term incidence of dementia was determined from Medicare administrative claims data.
A total of 1659 cases of incident dementia were identified during a median follow-up of 25 years. Lower fitness at midlife was associated with higher prevalence of elevated body-mass index, hypertension, diabetes, hyperlipidemia, and smoking. …