A specific form of exercise may be the 'cornerstone' to preventing Alzheimer's, research suggests. A has shed light on the relationship between fitness and cognitive decline at a time when over 944,000 people suffer from dementia in the UK.

The work specifically focused on the hippocampus, a region of the brain that's not only crucial for memory but also displays the earliest signs of Alzheimer's in most cases of the disease. Mice were put through several rounds of fitness to see if this had an effect on markers, like tau tangles', linked to cell damage and inflammation.

Interestingly, such tangles saw a 63% drop among mice kept on a consistent aerobic exercise routine throughout the trial, while protective 'oligodendrocytes' increased in numbers too. Amyloid plaques, another hallmark of Alzheimer's, also dropped by 76% among the active rodents, helping to restore critical balance in the brain.

READ MORE:

Dr Augusto Coppi, Senior Lecturer in Veterinary Anatomy at the University of Bristol and one of the study's senior authors, : "Alzheimer's is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder with no known cure, impacting millions worldwide.

"While physical exercise is known to reduce cognitive decline, the cellular mechanisms behind its neuroprotective effects have remained elusive—until now. This research highlights the potential for aerobic exercise to serve as a cornerstone in preventive strategies for Alzheimer's."

Aerobic exercise simply refers to any activity that bolsters your heart rate and the amount of oxygen used by the body to produce energy. This encompasses everything from running and swimming, to cycling and walking.

While the project only used mice as its subjects, scientists believe that similar trends will be noticeable among humans. They are now expanding clinical trials to confirm this.

Similar findings have been echoed by other experts too, including ageing and health specialist Professor Claire Steves from King's College London. In a previous , she said that a brisk 45-minute walk three times a week could significantly improve cognitive health.

READ MORE:

"So, to improve your cognitive health, you need to do more exercise than you're doing now - up to a point - unless you're an Olympic athlete," she said at the time. "That's the key thing. If we look at really big population studies, we can see effects, even with minimal levels of exercise and it's fairly linear...So, whatever you're doing, if you go up by a third, you'll be improving yourself."

Her views also come at a time when approximately 45% of dementia cases could be prevented by modifying lifestyle factors. The previously outlined that tiredness, alcohol and even pollution exposure can play a part in this after analysing 40,000 brain scans.

, who led the study, said last year: "We know that a constellation of brain regions degenerates earlier in aging, and in this new study we have shown that these specific parts of the brain are most vulnerable to diabetes, traffic-related air pollution − increasingly a major player in dementia − and alcohol, of all the common risk factors for dementia."