By Andrea Hargraves 
Studies released in recent months show that, yes, doing a good house cleaning is also a physical exercise that helps prevent dementia. The sweat released within three hours of cleaning the house can be as effective as 30 minutes of aerobic exercise.
latest survey, Published on July 27 in the magazine Neurology, follows 501,376 people registered in the UK database over an 11-year period. Of those, 5,185 developed dementia. Interestingly, some of the participants had genetic factors predisposing to the disease. But not everyone has developed it over the years.
Among all participants, those who engaged in regular physical activities reduced the risk of developing the disease by 35%. Then, the best benefit was for people who simply cleaned their home regularly: They reduced their risk by 21%.
“It is very important to know if you have a family history of dementia,” said Huan Song, a researcher at Sichuan University, one of the study’s authors. to the newspaper New York times. “If that’s the case, you can use physical activity to reduce the risk.”
Which exercise helps?
Today there is a “general guidance” that the ideal way to prevent disease is to do 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous intensity exercise per week. But some studies contradict this: the most important thing, according to her, is to do what you want.
Another search Conducted by the Institute of Mental Health of Peking University, in China, collected 38 articles to investigate which leisure activities reduce the risk of dementia. In all, more than two million people have been studied for at least three years. Of those, 74,700 have fallen ill.
The conclusion was that patients who exercise regularly have a 17% lower risk of facing the disease in the elderly. Compared with the stable.
Interestingly, there was no specific activity: the active group consisted of people walking, running, swimming, dancing and exercising in the gym. “We recommend that people do the exercise they like the most,” the article said.
Another study showed that the important thing is to start Published by the Australian National Center for Aging Health in early August. The research followed more than 1,200 children between the ages of 7 and 15 for more than 30 years.
Those with higher levels of physical fitness have higher levels of cognitive function throughout life and even more so in middle age.
So yes: exercise helps prevent disease – even if it means cleaning your house which is always a must.