SAN FRANCISCO: Walking slowly may be an early sign of Alzheimer’s in older people at risk of dementia, research suggests.
Scientists studied 128 people with an average age of 76 who had displayed evidence of impaired memory.
Scans showed that 48% of the group had a build up of beta amyloid protein fragments in their brains – one of the hallmarks of Alzheimer’s disease.
These individuals were also more likely to walk at a slower speed, measured using a standard test that times how fast a person can cover 13 feet at normal pace. The average walking speed was 3.48 feet per second….