A Daily Walk May Ward Off Mental Decline

Taking a regular, daily walk is great for physical health, and now it seems that it may slow the progression of Alzheimer's disease and ward off mental decline as well. Researchers from the University of Pittsburgh concluded that to guard against cognitive decline, it's necessary to average at least five miles of walking a week, every week, for about 10 years. The investigators analyzed data from an ongoing 20-year study looking at the weekly walking patterns among 426 seniors. At the start of the study, 44 of the participants already had Alzheimer's and another 83 had mild cognitive impairment (in half of all cases, this disorder eventually progresses to Alzheimer's).