Investing in cycle paths protects women from dementia

(CONNECT) According to a press release, the Women's Brain Foundation(WBF), in collaboration with the London School of Economics, has shown in a study that off-road cycling can potentially reduce the risk of dementia and health costs. This is particularly the case for women, they say. The globally active, non-profit Zurich-based foundation advocates that research and policy should take biological and social differences between the sexes into account. Her focus is on neurological and mental health issues.

The study, published in the International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, builds on the findings of the Dementia prevention, intervention, and care: 2024 report of the Lancet standing Commission. The benefits of physical activity in reducing the risk of dementia had already been emphasized here. The approach of the WBF study was based on modeling different case scenarios and their impact on dementia rates and health and social care costs. One of the authors of the study, WBF founder Dr. Antonella Santuccione Chada, explains in the press release. As a result, off-road cycle paths are a particularly effective way of reducing the gender gap through physical  activity. Physical activity is encouraged by this safe and easily accessible environment; women benefit most from the expansion of this infrastructure.

The study, which was supported by the pharmaceutical company F. Hoffmann-La Roche, refers to the fact that women are generally more at risk of dementia than men. According to Antonella Santuccione Chada, it would therefore be expedient for women to change their individual lifestyles, but also to initiate investments in infrastructure. She sees a focus on cycling in urban planning as an important strategy for public health. "If we want to reduce the long-term burden of dementia, we need to redesign a society that includes women and reduces the risk in this population group in particular," she is quoted as saying.

Antonella Santuccione Chada will be speaking at FutureHealth Basel in Basel on April 7. She talks about the potential for medicine by taking female characteristics into account. Among other things, the conference will focus on gender medicine and its significance for prevention and therapies. The conference provides a platform for national and international experts to discuss the medicine of the future, the economics of the healthcare system and the healthcare landscape in Switzerland. The aim is to build bridges between business, science, politics and the media. FutureHealth Basel is organized by NZZ Connect, a branch of the NZZ based in Bern. Tickets are available via the FutureHealth platform. ce/mm