{"id":159455,"date":"2025-09-21T19:41:20","date_gmt":"2025-09-21T19:41:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/159455\/"},"modified":"2025-09-21T19:41:20","modified_gmt":"2025-09-21T19:41:20","slug":"scientists-find-physical-exercise-can-reduce-risk-of-developing-dementia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/159455\/","title":{"rendered":"Scientists find physical exercise can reduce risk of developing dementia"},"content":{"rendered":"

More Australians die of dementia than any other cause, according to a recent report by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare.<\/a><\/p>\n

It is well known that physical activity is one way to reduce the risk of developing the disorder.<\/p>\n

Now, a new study has found the link between exercise and a reduction in a protein in the blood, which can lead to dementia.<\/p>\n

The recently published paper by the Wicking Dementia Research and Education Centre at the University of Tasmania<\/a> has also found that the more vigorous the exercise, the more brain health is protected.<\/p>\n

“The finding is really significant because it shows for the first time how a blood-based biomarker, that’s indicative of dementia risk, is associated with a really key and accessible modifiable risk factor,” Dr Eddy Roccati, a senior research fellow at the centre said.\"A<\/p>\n

Eddy Roccati says the finding is “really significant”. (ABC News: Owain Stia James)<\/p>\n

Protein linked with brain inflammation reduced by exercise<\/p>\n

The study tapped into a large and willing group of participants through the ISLAND research project in Tasmania.<\/p>\n

Dementia is Australia’s leading cause of death<\/a><\/p>\n

Advocates warn the number of people with the condition could exceed 1 million without government intervention.<\/p>\n

The project aims to understand who is most likely to develop dementia and ways to reduce that risk.<\/p>\n

Participants give a blood sample every two years and also complete surveys about their lifestyle.<\/p>\n

Colleen Davidson is part of the study.<\/p>\n

The 53-year-old runs, swims and does weight training.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Colleen Davidson is part of the ISLAND Project. (ABC News: Owain Stia James)<\/p>\n

Ms Davidson is well aware that physical activity is one way to reduce her chances of developing dementia later in life.<\/p>\n

“I’m working towards where I need to be, and I think that’s positive \u2014 just taking one step at a time and trying to make those positive changes,” she said.<\/p>\n

For the first time, scientists have been able to look at what impact reported levels of physical activity have on levels of a protein in the blood called serum glial fibrillary acidic protein or GFAP.<\/p>\n

Wicking Centre director, Professor James Vickers, said GFAP was linked with brain inflammation.<\/p>\n

“So it’s a good marker for general brain health,” he said.<\/p>\n

“We’ve basically found the more physical activity you do, the lower levels of this GFAP protein we find in your blood, which is probably indicating that you’re in a better state of brain health.”\"A<\/p>\n

James Vickers says the protein GFAP is a “good marker for general brain health”. (ABC News: Owain Stia James)<\/p>\n

The reduction in the protein is even greater for participants who engage in more vigorous forms of exercise.<\/p>\n

“Things like running or swimming, things that make you puff and pant,” Dr Roccati said.<\/p>\n

Genetics play a part<\/p>\n

The association between vigorous exercise and a reduction in the GFAP protein was less strong in participants with the ApoE4 gene.<\/p>\n

About 25 per cent of people carry one copy of ApoE4 and 2 to 3 per cent of people carry two copies.<\/p>\n

ApoE4 is the strongest genetic risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease and dementia.<\/p>\n

What is the ApoE4 gene that Chris Hemsworth has? <\/a><\/p>\n

After two decades of acting, Chris Hemsworth revealed he will take a break from his career, after learning he has a much higher-than-average chance of developing Alzheimer’s disease.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Although inheriting the gene does not mean a person will develop the disease.<\/p>\n

Actor Chris Hemsworth discovered three years ago he had inherited the gene from both his parents.<\/p>\n

Dr Roccati said even though the reduction in the protein was not as strong for people with the gene, physical exercise was still important.<\/p>\n

“You shouldn’t look at genes as determining your fate [you] should be like, ‘I’ve got this gene and now I am going to look at the best risk factors for me to address so I can reduce my risk of dementia over time’,” he said.<\/p>\n

\"Two<\/p>\n

The reduction in the protein is even greater for participants who engage in more vigorous forms of exercise, such as running. (ABC News: Keane Bourke)<\/p>\n

Other ways to reduce risk<\/p>\n

The new study adds to growing evidence that around 45 per cent of dementia cases could be prevented by addressing modifiable lifestyle and behavioural risk factors.<\/p>\n

Addressing physical inactivity, a key midlife modifiable risk factor, could significantly reduce dementia cases.<\/p>\n

By 2065, almost 1.1 million people are predicted to have dementia, a 2.5-fold increase, according to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare report.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

James Vickers says if biomarkers were measured as early as possible, people would be able to get a better idea of their dementia risk. (ABC News: Owain Stia James)<\/p>\n

Professor Vickers said there were about 14 modifiable risk factors.<\/p>\n

Social interaction, good sleep and reducing blood pressure are some of the ways to reduce dementia risk.<\/p>\n

High cholesterol, hearing loss, obesity and smoking increase the likelihood of developing the disease.<\/p>\n

Professor Vickers said having a greater understanding how modifiable risk factors influence blood biomarkers could help predict future brain health.<\/p>\n

“If we could measure them [biomarkers] them as early as possible we would have an idea that in 10 or 15 years’ time whether you’d be in a much higher risk of dementia.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"More Australians die of dementia than any other cause, according to a recent report by the Australian Institute…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":159456,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[10643,64,63,9757,554,137,9941,73491,73490,105954],"class_list":["post-159455","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health","tag-alzheimers","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-dementia","tag-exercise","tag-health","tag-physical-activity","tag-university-of-tasmania","tag-utas","tag-wicking-centre"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159455","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=159455"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159455\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/159456"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=159455"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=159455"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=159455"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}