Even when you exercise, spending the whole day sitting down increases your chance of developing dementia

According to a research that was just published in JAMA, persons who spend a lot of time sitting down at work and at home have a substantially higher chance of acquiring dementia than those who spend less time sitting down.

Researchers discovered that the risks associated with prolonged sitting might be so great that even those who frequently exercise are at greater danger if they spend most of the day sitting down.

The study, which included 49,841 men and women aged 60 or older, "supports the idea that more time spent in sedentary behaviors increases one's risk of dementia," according to Andrew Budson, a neurology professor at Boston University and the author of Seven Steps to Managing Your Aging Memory. Budson was not affiliated with the study.

The findings also show how extensive the negative effects of sitting can be, impacting both our bodies and thoughts, and they give rise to the possibility that exercise alone might not be sufficient to safeguard us.

The dangers of prolonged sitting

Scientists and the majority of the rest of us are aware of the negative effects of excessive sitting. Previous studies have shown that people who spend their days seated for long periods of time—at the office, during their commute, at home, in front of televisions and computers—are more likely to develop heart disease, obesity, diabetes, and other illnesses, as well as to pass away before their time.

Even exercising might be hampered by sitting. Another recent study found that persons who exercise but then spend the rest of the day sitting lose some of the metabolic advantages of their efforts.

But it's not yet known whether sitting also has an impact on brain health. According to several research, sitting might cause memory issues in the future, including Alzheimer's and other types of dementia. However, they have mostly depended on people's memory of how much they sit, which is sometimes fairly wrong.

How long do individuals usually sit?

The UK Biobank, a sizable database of information about the lives, health, and deaths of hundreds of thousands of British men and women, was the source of the objective measurements of sitting that researchers at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles and other universities were looking for for the new study.

Following their enrollment in the research, several Biobank participants wore sophisticated activity trackers for a week to meticulously record their movements (and stillness) throughout the day.

Nearly 50,000 of these adults, 60 years of age or older, who were free of dementia when they enrolled in the research, had records retrieved.

The scientists determined every minute of the day when people were active or sedentary, that is, they were sitting or lying down but not sleeping, with the use of artificial intelligence algorithms that could decipher the readouts from the trackers.

10 hours of sitting increase the risk to the brain

Then, over the following seven years or so, they looked into people's medical histories, scanning hospital or death records for any mention of a dementia diagnosis of any type.

Finally, they compared the health of the brain with sitting patterns. And they discovered significant relationships.

The chance of acquiring dementia over the course of the following seven years was 8% greater for men and women who sat for at least 10 hours each day, as many of them did.

From there, the hazards increased dramatically, reaching a 63 percent higher risk of dementia for individuals who sat in a chair for at least 12 hours.

"Sitting adds up," said David Raichlen, professor of biological sciences and anthropology at the University of Southern California and research leader. "Sitting in the office all day, then in front of the TV, in the car, and all the other ways we find to sit, it adds up." "These extreme levels of sedentary behavior are where we see a much higher risk" for memory and cognitive impairment, says the researcher.

Sitting is not undone by exercise

Surprisingly, the researchers discovered very few advantages to exercise.

People who exercised but then sat in a chair for ten hours or more were just as likely to develop dementia as those who had not exercised at all.

Raichlen commented, "It seems like you can't exercise your way out of the risk."

What about walk breaks or standing desks?

The same applied to brief breaks such as walking. The researchers found minimal gains among those who took breaks during their sitting time after controlling for other variables. Even if they got up and moved around, as long as they managed to sit for at least 10 hours each day, their risk didn't significantly alter. In the end, what mattered was how many hours a person spent each day sitting in a chair.

However, there are still some unanswered concerns regarding standing and standing desks, in part because it is not always simple to distinguish between sitting and standing still in activity tracker data. Although standing is often not regarded as sedentary activity, this study raises questions about whether it might reduce the hazards to the brain from sitting.

How can I reduce my risk?

Finding methods to sit less generally is the best strategy to lower the risk of dementia, according to Raichlen. "People in our study who were sedentary for 9.5 hours a day didn't have any increased risk," the author added.

Look for opportunities to move around during the day if your employment involves spending a lot of time at a desk or on a computer. While on the phone, amble around your workspace. Set up meetings while strolling. Instead of having lunch delivered, pick it up.

Try to keep track of the amount of time you spend sitting still. Raichlen instructed them to move more and zoom less when they approached or exceeded 10.

This study was associational, thus it cannot conclusively show that sitting leads to cognitive deterioration. Additionally, it doesn't explain how the two may be connected.

According to Raichlen, "there have been suggestions that cerebral blood flow is affected" while one is seated, which lowers the brain's oxygen and fuel levels. When we spend hours sitting, especially in front of the TV, we could also snack and eat badly in other ways, which could affect the long-term health of the brain.

However, the good news about oversitting is that it can be reversed. stated Raichlen. Sit less and walk more. That is the message, which we most likely need to reiterate.