By Daily Mail Reporter
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Older people whose walking pace suddenly starts to slow may be suffering from the early stages of dementia, according to a new study.
Researchers found that changes in walking speed in late life may signal the early stages of dementia, known as mild cognitive impairment (MCI).
Study author Dr Hiroko Dodge, of Oregon Health and Science University in the United States, said: 'In our study, we used a new technique that included installing infrared sensors in the ceilings of homes, a system designed to detect walking movement in hallways.
Keeping pace: A new study has found that a slowing of walking speed among elderly people could be a sign of the early onset of dementia
'By using this new monitoring method, we were able to get a better idea of how even subtle changes in walking speed may correlate with the development of MCI.'
The study involved 93 people age 70 or older who lived alone. Of those, 54 participants had no cognitive impairment, 31 had non-memory related MCI and eight had memory-related MCI.
Research: The study linking a slowing of walking pace to dementia was carried out by Dr Hiroko Dodge, of Oregon Health and Science University
They were given memory and thinking tests and had their walking speed monitored at their homes unobtrusively over a three-year period.
They were placed in groups of slow, moderate or fast based on their average weekly walking speed and how much their walking speed fluctuated at home.
The study found that people with non-memory related MCI were nine times more likely to be slow walkers than moderate or fast walkers and the amount of the fluctuation in walking speed was also associated with MCI.
Dr Dodge added: 'Further studies need to be done using larger groups of participants to determine whether walking speed and its fluctuations could be a predictor of future memory and thinking problems in the elderly.
'If we can detect dementia at its earliest phases, then we can work to maintain people’s independence, provide treatments and ultimately develop ways to prevent the disease from developing. Our in-home monitoring approach has a lot of pot ential to be used for sustaining independence of the elderly.'
The research was published in the journal Neurology.
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Its too simplistic a study.Most elderly people dont need to walk fast and have stiff or aching muscles and tendons.As one gets older muscle pains caused by excercise take longer to heal too.However any physical excercise is usually good for all round health,in moderation!
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Change in walking pace in the elderly 'could be a sign they are in early stages of dementia'...................Does someone get paid for writing this rubbish....................after all the clue is in the word elderly.
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If older people start looking out of the window more often, that is an early sign of dementia. Another early sign is having more cups of tea in the afternoon that they used to. One of the main ealy signs though is being more argumentative.
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As usual a DM half told, garbled story which in part is correct. My mum's gait changed and was an early sign of her dementia which, had it been taken on board by the medical professionals, would have saved a huge amount of heart ache.
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Could it also mean they are getting older and slower. It does happen I've heard.
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At 69 years old,these days I never walk - on principle.
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Or maybe bones start to ache a bit - and also we start to realise that there's no need to rush. What a stupid piece of research.
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Now, let's think about this for a second; I'm 73 and no longer walk as fast as I did thirty years ago....damn!
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It could also mean they are walking uphill, have heart disease or are simply tired. What a load of nonsense to fill the DM's columns. Take a look at 25% of the stories here, which are some kind of scare story about health, then next week some other 'expert' contradicts every story. Pay for some reporters who leave their desktop and actually get out if the building or watch your so called NEWSpaper disappear.
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perhaps they are tired you idiots!
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