Study Shows Your Walking Speed At 45 May Predict Brain Age

BOSTON (CBS) -- A new study from Duke University finds how fast you walk at age 45 could predict how your brain and body are aging.

Previous research has shown that slower walkers in their seventies and eighties tend to die sooner than faster walkers at the same age.

But this study found that your walking speed, in particular how fast you can walk without running, could be a red flag decades before old age.

Researchers looked at nearly 1,000 45-year-olds and found that those with slower gait speed had older looking faces and older brains based on MRI than people with more pep in their step.