People with high blood pressure have a higher risk of cognitive impairment, including dementia, but a recent suggests that engaging in vigorous physical activity more than once a week can lower that risk.

In 2015, published findings from the landmark Systolic Blood Pressure Intervention Trial (SPRINT) showed that intensive blood pressure management reduced cardiovascular disease and lowered the risk of death.

SPRINT began in the fall of 2009 and included more than 9,300 participants with high blood pressure ages 50 and older, recruited from about 100 medical centers and clinical practices throughout the United States. Participants were randomly assigned to a systolic blood pressure goal of either less than 120 mm Hg (intensive treatment) or less than 140 mm Hg (standard treatment). The National Institutes of Health stopped the blood pressure intervention earlier than originally planned to quickly disseminate the significant preliminary results, resulting in a new set of guidelines for controlling blood pressure.

In 2019, results of the ancillary SPRINT MIND trial showed that intensive control of blood pressure in older people significantly reduced the risk of developing mild cognitive impairment, a precursor of early dementia.

For the current study, which is a secondary analysis of the SPRINT MIND study, researchers examined the effect of self-reported sessions of vigorous physical activity (at least once a week) on the risk of mild cognitive impairment and dementia. Participants had a mean age of 70, 34.5% were women, 59.4% were White, and 59.3% reported engaging in vigorous physical activity at least once weekly.

The analysis showed that engaging in one or more sessions of vigorous physical activity per week was associated with lower rates of both mild cognitive impairment and dementia.

More research is needed to include device-based physical activity measurements rather than self-report, and more diverse participant populations, the authors noted.

To download the full study, published in Alzheimer’s & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer’s Association, click here