Posted on Feb 19th

Two new studies say that dancing may keep you healthy well into old age, potentially by reducing the risk of disability and dementia.

One paper, published in the Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports, looked at how various forms of physical activity affected about 1,000 elderly Japanese women and their risk of becoming physically disabled, as measured by their ability to complete tasks like walking, bathing and dressing. The women were asked about their general health and the types of physical activity they regularly did, and were monitored for signs of disability over eight years.

The researchers found that women who frequently danced had a 73% lower chance of becoming disabled during the study period, compared to women who did not. None of the other exercises, including calisthenics, walking and yoga, had such a strong association after adjusting for demographic and health factors.

The secret may be that dancing requires a variety of different skills, both mental and physical. “Dancing requires not only balance, strength, and endurance ability, but also cognitive ability: adaptability and concentration to move according to the music and partner, artistry for graceful and fluid motion, and memory for choreography,” the researchers write.

The second paper, published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, further examined dancing’s mental health benefits. The researchers analyzed 32 past studies involving more than 3,500 people ages 50 to 85 to determine whether mind-body activities, including tai chi, yoga and dance, could improve aging adults’ cognitive function.

There is no known way to definitively prevent or reverse dementia and cognitive decline. But after reviewing all the data, the researchers determined that aging adults who engaged in mind-body exercises tended to have stronger global cognition (a measure of general cognitive function) than people who did not do any.

Of course, dancing is also a good form of physical exercise, which plenty of research has shown to benefit mood, mental health and physical health — and it doesn’t hurt that it’s just great fun.

Original article:https://time.com/5484237/dancing-health-benefits/