Alzheimer’s and stroke are two common and feared neurological diseases. But you can actively prevent it and thus significantly reduce your personal risk of receiving one of the two diagnoses. This is shown by a recent study from “BMC Public Health”. Particularly interesting: An active lifestyle and sufficient sleep even had a protective effect in people with a genetic predisposition for these diseases.

The prospective cohort study from Great Britain investigated how much influence lifestyle can have on the risk of stroke and dementia. From the “UK Biobank”, 474,983 people aged 37–73 years with no previous stroke or dementia were examined. A score (0 – 4 points) was calculated for each participant, depending on their lifestyle. Regular physical activity, sleep duration of 7 to 8 hours per day, daily sitting time of less than 6 hours and hand grip strength above the gender-specific median value were included as markers of general muscle strength. Regular physical activity was defined as at least 150 minutes of moderate activity or 75 minutes of vigorous activity per week (or an equivalent combination of both) or moderate activity at least 5 days per week or vigorous activity at least 3 days per week (each ≥ 10 minutes at a time).

The median follow-up was 10.1 years. Incident strokes and dementia diagnoses (with subtypes such as Alzheimer’s and vascular dementia) were recorded as primary endpoints. In the course of the study, 4,992 strokes and 2,120 dementias occurred. And the analysis showed a clear protection through lifestyle; the more healthy factors were met, the higher the protective effect. The risk of stroke decreased by 15% when 2 of the 4 criteria were met, decreased by 29% for 3 criteria and by as much as 35% when all 4 criteria were met. The effects on the risk of dementia were even greater. If 2 criteria were met, the risk decreased by 26%, for 3 by 36% and for 4 criteria by 57%.

Sensational finding: Obviously, you can significantly influence your personal risk of disease even if you have a genetic predisposition

“These are very impressive figures,” explains DGN Secretary General Prof. Dr. Peter Berlit. “According to this current survey, those who are consistently physically active over ten years, i.e. exercise regularly, sit little during the day and also get enough sleep, can more than halve their risk of dementia.” It is also particularly revealing that these protective effects have also been observed in people who are considered genetically predisposed. The benefits of a healthier lifestyle in stroke and dementia were evident regardless of the presence of the APOE-ε4 gene variant, which is associated with stroke in younger people for the development of dementia and new findings. “In the study, the lifestyle measures also had significant protective effects in people with this risk gene. This means that you can significantly influence your personal risk of developing the disease despite your genetic predisposition.”

The high degree of protection of only two measures, a physically active lifestyle and sufficient sleep duration, is encouraging, according to the authors. The great effect of exercise had already been shown by a study published in the journal “Nature Medicine” at the beginning of November, in which the physical activity measured by pedometer, Aβ and tau PET data and the results of the annual cognitive examination were evaluated longitudinally over a period of up to 14 years in 296 cognitively unimpaired people. It was analyzed whether physical activity is associated with a slower cognitive and functional decline due to different degrees of Aβ and tau accumulation. This hypothesis was confirmed in the result. There was a “dose-dependent” effect of exercise with a daily workload of 5,000 to 7,500 steps, and the effect of this relatively moderate amount of exercise was enormous: Compared to inactive people, cognitive decline was up to 51% lower with increasing physical activity.

Original paper:

Chen LH, Chen CL, Hong Y, Yin X, Liu Z, Lu Y, Chen Z, Tan Y, Li FR, Li Y, Chen GC, Liu T, Tian H. Physical activity, muscle strength, sedentary behavior, sleep, and genetic risk of stroke and dementia: findings from a large cohort study. BMC Public Health. 2025 Dec 24; 25(1):4305. doi: 10.1186/s12889-025-25305-4. PMID: 41444571; PMCID: PMC12729355.

Editor: X-Press Journalistenbüro GbR

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