Cycling has many benefits to both a person’s personal health and the environment, but a recent study indicates that riding a bike may also pay dividends when it comes to healthy aging.
The study suggests that adding cycling to one’s commute or as part of your regular exercise, you may lower the risk of getting dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. Adding bike trips may also have other mental advantages.
“Researchers say biking on a regular basis may even help increase the size of a brain region that’s important to memory,” wrote Susan Krivelow on healthday.com.
The massive study analyzed data from nearly 480,00 people described as being in their “mid-life.” They were asked about the type of transportation they used the most and then 13 years later the researchers followed up to see how many developed dementia and Alzheimer’s.
Those who reported that they biked or included biking with other forms of travel such as walking, driving or public transportation had 19% lower odds of dementia and 22% lower odds of Alzheimer’s. The study noted that the benefits were higher in people without a genetic risk for Alzheimer’s.
“The cycling and mixed-cycling mode was significantly associated with a higher hippocampal volume,” the study explained, for a better working memory.
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