Slow walkers have smaller brains, lower IQs, and higher risk of dementia. Be aware of the interrelationship and walk faster.

【People who walk slowly have smaller brains and lower IQs. Results of an experiment by a U.S. team】
https://www.itmedia.co.jp/news/articles/2404/17/news047.html

・A paper published in 2019 by researchers affiliated with Duke University and other institutions in the U.S. A research report examining the relationship between walking speed and physical function, rate of aging, brain structure, and neurocognitive function at age 45

・People with slower walking speeds showed more pronounced declines in physical function and signs of aging.

・People with a slow gait have more physical limitations in daily life, weaker grip strength, lower balance and visuomotor coordination, and poorer performance on stand-up and step tests.

・Slow walkers had faster aging rates in multiple organs and their faces appeared older than their actual age. MRI images of the brain revealed a smaller total brain volume, thinner cortex, smaller brain surface area, and more white matter lesions.

・Those with slower walking speeds had lower intelligence quotients and poorer cognitive functions such as processing speed, working memory, perceptual reasoning, and language comprehension.

・These results suggest that brain health is closely related to walking speed.

・The study also revealed that children with lower neurocognitive function at age 3 years had slower walking speeds at age 45 years. Decline in cognitive function from childhood to adulthood was also associated with slower walking speed. This suggests that the origins of gait speed may be traced back to brain development during childhood

These are the quotes from the article

Let’s walk, and walk fast, for good flow.

I recall writing the following blog before.

【Is the risk of dementia (health?) is determined by stride length and walking speed? What are the criteria? What about Google Maps, for example?】
https://amimako.com/health-dementia-risk-walk-speed-google/

・The risk of developing dementia is 1.53 times higher for those who walk at a moderate speed and 2.05 times higher for those who walk at a slower and slower pace.
・The risk of dementia is 2.8 times greater in the group that walks at a narrower stride than in the group that walks at a wider stride.
・In other words, is stride length more important than walking speed?

We have covered the above in past blogs in the past.

This is a different study than the one above,

But as I thought,

One point of interest in the above study is that the subjects were 45 years old.

One point of interest in the above study is that the subjects were 45 years old. (Just like myself ^^).

After this age group, physical activities other than walking decrease drastically, in other words, walking becomes the main physical activity in their lives.

One more thing on the age connection,

Children with low cognitive function at age 3 have slower walking speeds as adults. In other words, when you read that the origin of walking speed may be traced back to childhood brain development, you may feel that walking speed and low cognitive function are somehow determined by genetic factors, but I personally do not believe that to be true.

Because,

I believe that the way our bodies are built is interrelated.

(So, no matter how old you are, I believe that increasing your walking speed will have a positive effect on your brain.)

A simple example is the relationship between the brain and the heart.

The heart may not move unless the brain commands the heart to move,

But the brain must also be able to move if the heart does not send blood to it.

In addition, I believe that the body is made up of interrelationships in many other areas, such as the relationship between the intestines and the brain, muscles, blood flow, and the heart.

And we can assume that the following is what is happening in this study.

Faster walking speed → development of calf muscles, also known as the second heart (and the vibration and contraction during walking acts as a blood flow pump) → better blood flow to the brain → more active brain and better brain health

Although we cannot be directly involved in the interrelationships between the heart, brain, and other parts of the body (it would be amazing if we could consciously move the heart and brain ^^;)

I think that the act of increasing blood flow by increasing walking speed is one of the few things we can do consciously that has a positive effect on the interrelationships of our bodies.

I often say that the body is capital,

I believe that walking, and walking fast, is one of the few things we can do to contribute to our precious bodies. (even more so as we age).

Let’s continue to consciously walk faster every day. (A wider stride is even better)

See you then

If you can’t walk, you are unhealthy, and if you are unhealthy, you can’t walk. This is also interrelated, isn’t it? In a different way, I think it can be called a cycle, or flow. Breaking the vicious cycle, creating a good flow, and walking fast will surely help to do so.