Dr. Yonas Endale Geda discusses a new Mayo Clinic study that found physical exercise and computer use may help protect against mild cognitive impairment (MCI). The combination of these two activities appears to be even more beneficial than only one or the other. The study was presented at the 2010 American Academy of Neurology Annual Meeting in Toronto.
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To examine the joint effects of physical exercise, cognitive activity, and caloric intake on mild cognitive impairment (MCI).
BACKGROUND: Physical exercise, cognitive activity, and caloric intake are independently associated with MCI; however, their joint effects remain unknown.
DESIGN/METHODS: We conducted a case-control study derived from the population-based Mayo Clinic Study of Aging. A random sample of 926 elderly participants aged 70 90 years (n = 817 cognitively normal persons and n = 109 subjects with MCI) completed questionnaires on physical exercise, cognitive activities, and caloric intake (for 1 year preceding the interview). Multivariable logistic regression analyses were conducted to compute odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI).
RESULTS: In a multivariable model including caloric intake as a continuous variable, any frequency of moderate physical exercise in late life versus none, and any computer use in late life versus none, the OR was 0.64 (95% CI = 0.42 0.98; p = 0.04) for physical exercise, 0.56 (95% CI = 0.36 0.89; p = 0.01) for computer use, and 1.04 (95% CI = 1.01 1.06; p = 0.001) for caloric intake (per 100 kilocalories). All ORs were adjusted for the following covariates: age, sex, education, depression, and medical comorbidity. There were no multiplicative interactions between moderate physical exercise, computer use, and caloric intake. However, we observed an additive interaction between moderate physical exercise and computer use (p = 0.01; adjusted for all covariates and for caloric intake). Thus, the beneficial joint effect of moderate physical exercise and computer use was more than what would be predicted from the arithmetic sum of the two.
CONCLUSIONS/RELEVANCE: Our joint effect analyses suggest that moderate physical exercise and computer use in late life may have a beneficial interaction. However, we cannot rule out a cause-effect inversion. Supported by: U01 AG06786, P50 AG016574, K01 AG028573, K01 MH068351, R01 AR030582, from NIH, Bethesda, MD; Harold Amos Medical Faculty Development Program (RWJ foundation), Robert H. and Clarice Smith and Abigail Van Buren Alzheimer’s Disease Research Program.
AUTHORS
Yonas E. Geda, Rosebud O. Roberts, David S. Knopman, Teresa Christianson, Vernon Pankratz, Bradley Boeve, Robert Ivnik, Eric Tangalos, Walter Rocca, Ronald Petersen from Mayo Clinic.
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