Physical Fitness Contributes to Successful Mental Aging/DAILY EXERCISE CHECK IN!!!
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http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/545924_print
Physical Fitness Contributes to Successful Mental Aging
News Author: Marlene Busko
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October 12, 2006 - A Scottish study found that 79-year-old individuals who were
more physically fit had greater mental acuity, even after accounting for
childhood IQ.
Lead author Ian J. Deary, PhD, at the University of Edinburgh in Edinburgh,
Scotland, told Medscape, "We found that fitness did contribute a small amount to
cognitive ability in old age. What is new here is that we had people aged 79,
and we knew their cognitive ability at age 11. Therefore, we were able to rule
out the possibility that smarter people in youth get fitter in old age."
The article is published in the October 10 issue of Neurology.
Same IQ Test at Age 11 and 79 Years
Dr. Deary and colleagues explained that studies have shown that better physical
fitness in middle and old age is associated with higher cognitive test scores,
but it was unclear if a causal relationship exists between these variables or if
later fitness was decided by childhood IQ. The team sought to determine whether
physical fitness contributes to successful cognitive aging over and above
cognitive ability in youth.
The authors recruited healthy individuals who were 79 years old and living in
the community in Lothian, Scotland. The study subjects had participated in the
Scottish Mental Survey of 1932, which had measured the IQ of all children in
Scotland who were born in 1921.
A retrospective cohort of 460 individuals (272 women and 188 men, with a mean
age of 79.1 ± 0.6 years) met the study criteria. Study requirements included
having Moray House Test score data (showing general mental ability) from age 11
and 79 years, no history of dementia, a normal Mini-Mental State Examination
(MMSE) score, successful APOE genotyping, and full information on smoking,
social class, and education. The researchers derived a latent measure of
physical fitness from 3 measures at age 79 years: the time it took to walk 6 m
at a normal pace, the best of 3 trials of grip strength, and the best of 3
trials of forced expiratory volume of air from the lungs in 1 second (FEV1).
These physical fitness indicators were adjusted for sex and height.
A Sound Mind in a Sound Body
The team found that physical fitness contributed more than 3% of the variance in
the study participants' cognitive ability at age 79 years, after adjusting for
their cognitive test scores at age 11 years. "Having this rare early baseline we
can rule out the possibility in the present study that intelligence measured in
early life is causal to general fitness in old age," the group writes.
In addition, participants with a high IQ as a child were more likely to have
better lung function (FEV1), but not better grip strength or ability to walk, at
age 79 years. This "remarkable result" rules out the possibility that
performance of these physical tests in old age reflects the physical ability
they had as children, the investigators add.
"The important result here is that fitness, extracted as a latent trait from the
three indicators, contributed to later life cognition after adjusting for
childhood IQ," Dr. Deary and colleagues write. This implies that of 2 people
starting with the same IQ at age 11 years, the fitter person at age 79 years
will, on average, have better cognitive function (after adjusting for social
class, APOE-?4 status, sex, and height), they add, noting that the findings
apply only to healthy aging.
"At the level of the general population, being fit is not only good in itself,
it is also associated with better cognitive functioning," Dr. Deary told
Medscape. "For a clinician, surely this just reinforces the message that it is a
good thing to be as physically fit as one can be."
The study was funded by the United Kingdom's Biotechnology and Biological
Sciences Research Council.
Neurology. 2006;67:1195-1200.
Learning Objectives for This Educational Activity
Upon completion of this activity, participants will be able to:
a.. Describe the association between physical fitness and cognitive function
in older adults.
b.. Describe the association between childhood IQ and lung function in older
adults.
Clinical Context
According to the current authors, correlations exist between physical fitness
indicators, such as lung function, and cognitive test scores in older adults,
but the direction of the causal relationship is not clear, ie, whether physical
performance requires cognitive ability or cognitive ability is improved when
physical function is better. In addition, the authors reported that APOE
genotype affects fitness attainment.
The current study is a retrospective analysis of the survivors of the Lothian
Birth Cohort who were recruited in 1932 at age 11 years and examines the
relationship between physical fitness measures at age 79 years and its
correlation with cognitive ability measured at age 11 and 79 years.
Study Highlights
a.. 550 participants from the original birth cohort born in 1921 belonging to
the local registry of general practitioners and who participated in the Scottish
Mental Survey of 1932 were eligible for this study.
b.. For this retrospective study, survivors were aged 79 years,
community-living, healthy, and were invited to travel to a research facility.
c.. Inclusion criteria for this study were Moray House Test scores of mental
function available from age 11 years (N = 487) and 79 years (N = 534), no
history of dementia, MMSE score of 24 or higher, and available data on grip
strength, 6-m walk test, FEV1, APOE genotyping, and demographics.
d.. The Moray House Test of cognitive function was used at age 11 and 79 years
and has concurrent validity with the Stanford-Binet test and the Raven's
Progressive Matrices.
e.. There are 71 items with a maximum score of 76, and the test contains
predominantly verbal reasoning with some numerical and spatial test items.
f.. Scores at age 11 years were obtained in school while scores at age 79
years were obtained by readministering the test in person.
g.. A 45-minute limit was imposed at both test administrations.
h.. Scores were converted into IQ scores (mean, 100; SD, 15).
i.. MMSE was used as a brief screening test for dementia at age 79 years.
j.. The fitness indicators were 6-m walk time at a normal pace, grip strength
measured by a Jamar Hydraulic Hand Dynamometer (best of 3 attempts), and FEV1
using a microspirometer.
k.. The 3 fitness measures were combined into a single latent trait.
l.. Fitness variables were adjusted for sex.
m.. The mean raw score for the baseline cohort was 34.5 on the Moray House
Test Score, and for the 79-year-old survivors, mean test score was 46.4.
n.. The mean Moray House Test IQ at age 11 years was 100.6.
o.. Occupational social class and education were significantly associated with
fitness and Moray House Test IQ at age 79 years.
p.. Those in professional occupations and with more education and better
fitness had higher cognitive scores.
q.. APOE gene status was associated with IQ at age 79 years but not with
fitness.
r.. Smoking status was associated with neither fitness nor cognitive function.
s.. Cardiovascular disease and diabetes were associated with reduced fitness
at age 79 years.
t.. None of the illnesses were associated with Moray House Test IQ at age 79
years.
u.. Moray House Test IQ at age 11 years correlated with FEV1 (P = .03) but not
with 6-m walk test or grip strength.
v.. Moray House Test IQ at age 79 years correlated with all 3 fitness
indicators (P < .01).
w.. IQ at age 79 years correlated with the fitness latent trait, but IQ at age
11 years did not.
Pearls for Practice
a.. Physical fitness, as defined by a latent trait consisting of 3 tests, is
associated with healthy cognitive aging.
b.. Higher childhood IQ at age 11 years is associated with FEV1 but not grip
strength or 6-m walk test at age 79 years.
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