Gait speed - How walking fast is an indicator of health

 As someone who has short legs, I often found myself walking fast to stay caught up with my longer legged friends. A new study conducted over five decades, following people from birth, has indicated that adult gait speed is associated with aging and brain health.  The ability to walk is dictated by the central nervous system and is an estimation of health and functional capacity (Rasmussen et al., 2019). This study concluded that by age 45, gait speed was an indicator of accelerated aging and decreased brain health. “Slow gait was associated with the volume of white matter hyperintensities, which is associated with cognitive decline and dementia” (Habes, Erus, Toledo, 2016). Neurocognitive functions were examined using the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-IV (Wechsler, 2008), which included the animal naming test, Rey auditory verbal learning test of memory as well as the Wechsler memory scale! If you participated in my physiology groups research project, you had to take the Wechsler memory scale quiz.

Knowing that slower gait is associated with geriatric aged people, if at 45 years old you already are showing precursory signs that you are prone to neurological decline, would that change the way you view your lifestyle? If at 25 you realize you have a slower gait and how that is associated with brain health, would you be more inclined to change some behaviors, like eating healthier, exercising more and decreasing nicotine and alcohol consumption? Since gait is  no longer just thought of as a means to get to Chick fil A from Macy’s at the mall, understanding that walking is a powerful diagnostic tool in assessing disability and death in elderly changes the way we walk as an integrative measure of our health (Rasmussen et al., 2019). As a side note, though this study looked at people over their lifetime, I wonder how much of this has changed since sitting at desks has become the norm for many jobs. In the meantime, if you see me fast walking past you, just know I’m working on my brain health and trying to keep up with my tall friends.

Habes M, Erus G, Toledo JB, et al. 2016. White matter hyperintensities and imaging patterns of brain ageing in the general population. Brain. 39(4):1164-1179. doi:10.1093/brain/aww008

 Hartmann Rasmussen, L.J.,  Caspi, A., Ambler, A., Broadbent, J., Cohen, H., Tracy d’Arbeloff, T., et al., 2019. Association of Neurocognitive and physical function with gait speed in midlife. JAMA Network Open. 2(10): e1913123. doi: :10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2019.13123

Wechsler D. Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale. 4th ed. San Antonio, TX: Pearson Assessment; 2008