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As muscle strength decreases, chances of developingAlzheimer’s disease increase, according to recently published research.

In a Rush University Medical Center study, 970 adultswith an average age of 80 engaged in a series of strength and cognition tests.The subjects’ strength was rated in units, and ranged from -1.6 to 3.3. Foreach one-unit increase in strength measured at the beginning of the study,researchers found a corresponding 43% decrease in the likelihood of thatsubject developing Alzheimer’s over the course of the roughly 3.6 year follow-up period. The strongest 10% were 61% less likely to develop Alzheimer’s thanthe weakest 10%, according to the report. 

Researchers say they are unsure exactly what causes thelink between loss of physical strength and cognitive decline. The reportappears in the November issue of the journal Archives of Neurology.