Walking slowly at 45 ‘linked to higher risk of dementia’
WALKING speed can predict a person’s risk of killer diseases, including dementia, decades before symptoms develop.
In a long-term study, the brains and bodies of slower-moving people were found to have aged more than those of faster movers by the age of 45.
Slow walkers could even be identified in hindsight from mental agility tests carried out at the age of three.
It is feared that one of the reasons dementia drugs trials fail is they are given too late, once the disorder has taken hold.
The findings, published in JAMA Network Open, could lead to a screening programme for Alzheimer’s in childhood.
Lead author Dr Line Rasmussen, a neuroscientist at Duke University in North Carolina, US, said: “The thing that is really striking is this is in 45-year-old people, not the geriatric patients who are usually assessed with such measures.” Senior author Professor Terrie Moffitt, of King’s College, London, said: “This study covered the period from the preschool years to midlife, and found a slow walk is a problem sign decades before old age.”
Dr Rasmussen added: “We may have a chance here to see who is going to do better health-wise in later life.”
The study was based on long-term data from 904 New Zealanders born in a single year.
FOR Sue Perkins, the chatty comedian, author and broadcaster, spending 30 hours shut away in a lonely house without human company was a deeply isolating experience. But for many elderly people, as Sue explains, being constantly alone is their day-to-day reality.The former Bake Off presenter signed up for the Age UK experiment to better understand the problems faced by so many.
“Beforehand, 30 hours appeared a very manageable amount of time,” says Sue. “I thought it would be no great shakes but it was very different once I was in the house. It’s amazing how many things are tied up with isolation. You lose your taste and appetite, and the colour drains from every experience. It was just awful.”
The statistics relating to isolation make bleak reading.A new survey by Age UK reveals that 225,000 older people go for a whole week without exchanging a word with anyone. In a typical week, 2.6 million aged
65 and over talk to a maximum of just three people.
According to Sue:
“We have become very atomised and selfish as a society.We’ve lost that sense that we are all in this together. Everyone rushes to blame social media for that, and that is certainly one of the reasons. Everyone has their head down in their phone, which I’m guilty of. It’s important to wake up to the bigger picture.”
While Sue admits she cannot compare her experience, which was part of the Age UK and Cadbury “Donate Your Words” campaign, with what that of an isolated older person, it left her “saddened and shocked”.
She says: “The experience was so much more visceral and troubling than I expected, physically as well as psychologically. It’s endemic for so many people in this country, but it’s appalling.Within a couple of hours, a malaise kicked in. I became incredibly tired, and my concentration and appetite dimmed. I became quite cold because I had no exercise. A general mental and physical lethargy crept over me.”
The results are featured in a short film on the Age UK website. The presenter, who turned 50 last month and relishes human contact, was also surprised by what she felt most deprived of in the house. Sue had no access to the phone or the internet as many pensioners struggle online or cannot afford it, and telephone contact with the outside world can be limited.
“I thought I’d miss social media and permanently being on the phone, but actually I missed my dog and contact with people in my immediate vicinity,” she explains.
“I became very disgruntled early on. I couldn’t have a joke or pass the time of day with people. That feeling became much more profound after a couple of hours. I never want to go back – I have very bad memories of that house. But I experienced all those psychological effects whilst knowing my time on my own was limited.
“Imagine knowing there’s no full