Older adults don’t need to walk 10,000 steps a day to reap serious health benefits. Taking as few as 3,000 steps daily could be enough to slow the progression of Alzheimer’s disease, according to a new study from Mass General Brigham.
The study, published this week, found that adults older than 50 already at heightened risk for Alzheimer’s who walked less than 3,000 steps per day showed faster cognitive decline and evidence of disease progression in the brain compared to people who walked even slightly more.
Specifically, researchers saw that participants who walked between 3,000 and 5,000 steps a day delayed their cognitive decline by around three years.
Among study participants who walked between 5,000 and 7,000 steps each day, cognitive decline was delayed by around seven years, researchers said.
“Every step counts,” said lead author Wai-Ying Wendy Yau, MD, a Mass General Brigham neurologist. “Even small increases” may help slow down the progression among older adults who are already at higher risk, he said.
The study, published in the journal Nature Medicine, included nearly 300 participants ages 50-90 who showed elevated levels of amyloid-beta, a protein associated with Alzheimer’s, at the start of the research.
Participants’ cognitive decline was measured by the speed at which tau proteins built up and tangled inside the brain, a biological progress closely linked with the progression of Alzheimer’s, according to experts.
Sedentary study participants had a significantly faster buildup of tau proteins in the brain and more rapid declines in cognition and daily functioning, the authors said.
“This sheds light on why some people who appear to be on an Alzheimer’s disease trajectory don’t decline as quickly as others,” said author Jasmeer Chhatwal, another neurologist at Mass General Brigham.
“Lifestyle factors appear to impact the earliest stages of Alzheimer’s disease,” he continued, “suggesting that lifestyle changes may slow the emergence of cognitive symptoms if we act early.”
Mass General Brigham’s research builds on previous studies that found adults don’t need to walk 10,000 steps daily (a special number associated with decreased risk of heart disease and cancer) to feel certain health benefits.
Other studies published in recent years, including one released in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology in 2023, found that simply increasing one’s average step count — such as upping the count from 3,000 to 4,000 — leads to marginally better health benefits.
Claire Thornton can be reached at claire.thornton@globe.com. Follow Claire on X @claire_thornto.