A new study links one's future mental ability to the person's physical performance.(file photo)

    BEIJING, May 23 (Xinhuanet) -- A Seattle-based research team has found that a person's physical performance has much to do with his or her future mental ability.

    They said a simple way to tell one's chances of developing dementia or Alzheimer's disease in old age is by timing one's walk, testing the strength of the grip of one's dominant hand and checking one's balance when standing still.

    The research team, led by Dr. Eric Larson, director of Group Health's Center for Health Studies, has studied 2,288 people 65 and older. Each person in the study was assessed every two years, or three times. The analysis of the first six years was published in Monday's Archives of Internal Medicine.

    When the study began in 1994, none of the participants showed signs of dementia or Alzheimer's disease. Six years later, 319 people had developed dementia, including 221 with Alzheimer's disease.

    "Everyone had expected the earliest signs of dementia would be subtle cognitive changes," Larson said. "We were surprised to find that physical changes can precede declines in thinking."

    The first indicators of future dementia appeared to be problems with walking and balance, according to the study. A weak handgrip may be a later sign of the development of dementia in older people.

    In an earlier report in the Annals of Internal Medicine in January, some of the same researchers found that when people exercised regularly, they were less likely to develop dementia or Alzheimer.

    This newer study suggests a possible pathway: that regular exercise might help stave off dementia by improving and maintaining physical conditioning, Group Health reported.

    "These results suggest that in aging there's a close link between the mind and body. Physical and mental performance may go hand in hand and anything you can do to improve one is likely to improve the other," Larson said. Enditem

    (Agencies)