A new study has identified the way you walk could be a sign of dementia.
The research, carried out by the University of Minnesota and Monash University, has suggested that walking more slowly in old age could be a symptom. Scientists found the ability to walk could become more difficult as the brain declines.
The study tracked 17,000 people over 75 across a seven-year period and testED their walking speed and cognition every other year. Scientists found people who lost 0.05 meters per second from their pace every year had signs of mental decline - as The Daily Record reports.
READ MORE: ITV This Morning doctor shares perfect time to exercise to cure sleep problems
People who were declining in both cognition and walking speed were found to be at a higher risk of dementia. This group were dubbed "dual decliners" - and saw about 178 cases of the condition detected.
Those who showed no decline in cognition or walk were least likely to have the disease with just 0.3 per cent diagnosed. The study did not find a more general link between walking speed and dementia risk.
It found that those who slowed down but did not already show signs of cognitive decline were at a similar risk to those whose walking speed remained the same. Still, a decline in both cognition and walking speed could warn of dementia, according to the researchers, who suggest that speed and memory may be the best way to assess cognitive decline.
The study was led by Dr Taya Collyer, a biostatician from Monash University, and concluded: "Association between [brain] domains, such as processing speed and verbal fluency, with gait have been explained by the crossover in the underlying networks or pathology."
The study added: "These results highlight the importance of gait in dementia risk assessment. They suggest that dual decline in gait speed and memory measure may be the best combination to assess future decline."
The study was published this week in JAMA Network Open.
Receive newsletters with the latest news, sport and what's on updates from the Liverpool ECHO by signing up here
Coronation Street's Millie Gibson pens loving tribute to Charlie De Melo after exit
Jet2 apologise as kids in tears after being barred from flight at Manchester airport
