Study: Mental Activity While Sitting Reduces Dementia Risk

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Adults and kids are advised not to sit still for too long by health professionals. According to the World Health Organization, sedentary behavior, or sitting or lying down while exerting little energy, can be extremely harmful to elderly individuals. It ties an increased risk of several major diseases to spending more time sitting or lying down.

A 2022 research of adults over 60 years old revealed that dementia, or the gradual loss of memory, linguistic skills, and other mental functions, can also influence how intellectually active people are while sitting. Researchers from Southern California and Arizona universities discovered that seniors over 60 who used a computer while seated had a lower risk of dementia than seniors over 60 who only watched television. The UK Biobank, which contains information on 500,000 people in the UK, was utilized by the researchers. More than 145,000 persons over the age of 60 who responded to questionnaires about their leisure activities while sitting were examined.

Long periods of sitting have been linked to changes in the blood flow to the brain, according to earlier research. However, watching television requires more energy than reading or using a computer. According to research co-author David Raichlen, this additional exercise may also lessen the harmful effects of prolonged sitting. Even older persons who regularly exercised had a higher risk of dementia if they were less intellectually active when seated, according to the study. According to co-author Gene Alexander, the findings demonstrated that exercise levels had no bearing on how much time was spent sitting down when engaging in leisure activities.