NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Walking speed can help predict the risk of fatal diseases, including dementia, decades before symptoms appear, a new study suggests.
A team of researchers found that the brains and bodies of people who walk slowly, aging more quickly by the age of 45 years, compared to others and tend to lungs, teeth and immune system to be worse.
"The really amazing thing is that this is happening in 45-year-olds, not in old-age patients," said Lin Rasmussen, a neuroscientist at Duke University.
Rasmussen explained that signs of ill health in middle age may be detected through a simple walk test.
The study found that slow walking was a sign of a health problem decades ago.
The study was based on data from a long study, involving 904 individuals born within a year in Dunedin, New Zealand, and the researchers analyzed their entire lives until they were 45 years old.
Walking speed has long been used as a measure of health and aging in aging patients.
The results could trigger a childhood screening program for Alzheimer's disease and other life-threatening conditions.