Dementia risk could be linked to walking speed, study suggests

Fox News contributor Dr. Marc Siegel joins ‘Fox News Live’ to discuss the FDA approving a new Alzheimer treatment drug and the FDA banning bromide vegetable oils. A slower walking pace could be a sign of cognitive decline or dementia , a new study suggests.

Researchers assessed more than 16,800 healthy people over the age of 65 in the U.S. and Australia during a seven-year period (2010 to 2017), according to the published study in JAMA Network Open.

The investigators measured participants' walking speed and performed cognitive tests every two years. ALZHEIMER’S PATIENT, 90, SAYS SKIING AND OTHER ACTIVITIES KEEP HIM MENTALLY SHARP Those who demonstrated a decrease in walking speed by at least 2 inches per second a year — along with slower cognitive ability — had a higher risk of dementia, as compared to individuals considered to be "non-decliners, cognitive-only decliners or gait-only decliners," according to the report. A slower walking pace could be a sign of cognitive decline or dementia, a new study suggests.

(iStock) "The combination of declining memory and slowing gait seems to be a stronger indicator of future dementia risk than decline in one of those things alone," Dr. Taya A. Collyer, PhD, who led the study out of Monash University in Australia, told Fox News Digital.

Family members often comment that their loved one had changed prior to a dementia diagnosis, according to Dr. Amy Brodtmann, a neurologist and professor of the Cognitive Health Initiative at M.