New Nature Medicine Study: Just a Few Thousand Daily Steps May Delay Alzheimer's Progression for Years
You don't need to lace up for a marathon to protect your brain, sometimes, a simple daily walk can make all the difference. A new study published in Nature Medicine has found that taking just a few thousand steps a day may help slow the progression of Alzheimer's disease, even among people who already show early biological signs of it.
The findings are both hopeful and surprisingly attainable. According to the researchers, individuals who walked between 3,000 and 5,000 steps a day delayed memory and cognitive decline by an average of three years. Those who took between 5,000 and 7,500 steps a day gained an even greater benefit, slowing decline by about seven years on average.
Dr. Wei-Ying Wendy Yao, a neurologist at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, explained that regular physical activity appears to slow the buildup of tau, a protein directly linked to memory loss and the progression of Alzheimer's. "By keeping the brain active through movement", she noted, "we may be able to buy valuable time for memory and thinking".
Still, experts caution that walking alone isn't a cure-all. Dr. Richard Isaacson, a neurologist and specialist in neurodegenerative diseases, told CNN that there's no "magic number" of steps that works for everyone. People dealing with high blood pressure, prediabetes, or excess weight, he said, need a more holistic approach that combines personalized exercise routines with proper nutrition, sleep, and stress management.
Even so, the broader message is deeply encouraging: moving your body, even just an hour a day, can do wonders for both heart and mind. Walking boosts blood circulation, stabilizes blood sugar levels, and promotes the kind of brain health that medication alone can't always achieve.
The long-term study followed 296 participants aged 50 to 90 over a remarkable 14-year span. Researchers tracked their daily steps, conducted annual memory tests, and used PET scans to monitor the buildup of tau in the brain. The results were clear: in consistent walkers, tau accumulated far more slowly, while those who led sedentary lifestyles experienced faster memory loss and declines in everyday functioning.
Dr. Isaacson emphasized that the findings align with earlier animal research showing that exercise can reduce the buildup of Alzheimer's-related proteins by up to 50 percent. "There's no doubt that every bit of movement matters", he said. "Even small steps, quite literally, can add up to a big difference over time".
