Skiers had lower incidence of depression and vascular dementia—but not Alzheimer’s

Skiers had lower incidence of depression and vascular dementia – but not Alzheimer’s
The race: Vasaloppet. Credit: Lund University

Half as many diagnosed with depression, a delayed manifestation of Parkinson’s, a reduced risk of developing vascular dementia—but not Alzheimer’s. These connections were discovered by researchers when they compared 200 000 people who had participated in a long-distance cross-country ski race between 1989 and 2010 with a matched cohort of the general population. The results of the population register study, led by researchers at Lund University in Sweden together with Uppsala University, were recently published in three scientific articles.

“As brain researchers, we have had the unique opportunity to analyze an exceptionally large group of very…

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