WEDNESDAY, Nov. 20, 2024 (HealthDay News) — High cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) is associated with better cognitive performance and lower dementia risk, according to a study published online Nov. 19 in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.

Shuqi Wang, from the Tianjin Medical University in China, and colleagues examined the association of CRF with cognitive function and dementia risk, accounting for genetic predisposition for dementia. A total of 61,214 dementia-free participants within the U.K. Biobank, aged 39 to 70 years, were followed for up to 12 years. The CRF score was estimated using a six-minute submaximal exercise test and divided into age- and sex-standardized tertiles.

The researchers found that high CRF was associated with better global cognitive function compared with low CRF (β = 0.05). Overall, 553 individuals developed dementia during the follow-up period. The incidence rate ratio was 0.60 for all dementia for high CRF versus low CRF; dementia onset was delayed by 1.48 years among people with high versus low CRF. Higher CRF attenuated all dementia risk by 35 percent among those with a moderate/high polygenic risk score (incidence rate ratio, 0.65).

“Our findings suggest that maintaining favorable CRF could be a strategy for the prevention of dementia, even among people with a high genetic predisposition,” the authors write.

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