Complain about a product or service

Exercise May Prevent Dementia-Like Illnesses

August 11, 2006

• Low Levels of 'Good Cholesterol' Linked to Memory Loss, Dementia Risk • Chemical in Celery May Fight Alzheimer's • Dementia Linked To Obesity • Studies Find Link Between Diabetes and Alzheimer's • Lifestyle Linked to Alzheimer's Onset • Pot Belly in Middle Age Linked to Alzheimer's • 10 Million Boomers Face Alzheimer's • Alzheimer's Risk Higher in Victims' Children • Fast-Acting Alzheimer's Therapy Excites Researchers • Too Much Sugar May Increase Alzheimer’s Risk • Beta Carotene May Slow Memory Loss • Promising Alzheimer’s Discovery Reported • Misconceptions About Alzheimer's Vary Among Races • Mediterranean Diet May Extend Alzheimer’s Patients’ Lives • Researchers Link Smoking To Dementia • Caffeine May Keep Dementia At Bay In Women • Alzheimer’s Drug Seen As “Safe, Effective” • Researchers “A Step Closer” To Alzheimer’s Cure • FDA Approves Alzheimer’s Patch • Scientists Raise Hopes For Alzheimer's Vaccine • Researchers Hopeful About New Alzheimer’s Therapy • Blood Pressure Drugs May Provide Alzheimer’s Protection • Progress Toward Early Alzheimer's Diagnosis Reported • Alzheimer's Cases Up 10% In 5 Years • Loneliness Linked to Dementia • Gene Changes Identified in Alzheimer's • Mental Exercise May Help Seniors • Rote Learning Improves Memory in Seniors • Vegetables May Slow Memory Loss • Cabernet Sauvignon May Reduce Alzheimer's Risk • Fruit Juice May Reduce Alzheimer's Risk • Skin Test May Detect Alzheimer's Disease • Exercise May Prevent Dementia-Like Illnesses • An Apple A Day May Improve Memory • New Drug Reverses Alzheimer's Damage, Australian Researchers Report • Diabetes Drug May Help Treat Alzheimer's • For Women, Weight Loss May Precede Dementia • Researchers "Closer" To Preventing Alzheimer's • Statins Help Memory in Older Women • Study Links Healthy Diet To Reduced Alzheimer's Risk • Tea May Help Combat Alzheimer's • Education May Accelerate Alzheimer's Effects • Alzheimer's Found to be Mostly Genetic • Exercise May Reduce Risk of Dementia in Older People • Researchers Find DNA Link to Alzheimer's • Brain Scan, Fluid Analysis May Help Predict Alzheimer's • Eating Fish Associated With Slower Cognitive Decline • Word Recall An Alzheimer' s Tip-Off? • Interrupted Alzheimer's Trial Produced Promising Results • Gene Therapy May Offer Hope For Alzheimer's Patients • Alzheimer's Researchers Reverse Memory Loss in Mice • Alzheimer's Disease Reveals Itself Earlier, Study Finds

Based on a review of studies on exercise and its effect on brain functioning in human and animal populations, researchers find that physical exercise may slow aging's effects and help people maintain cognitive abilities well into older age.

Animals seem to benefit from exercise too and perform spatial tasks better when they are active. Furthermore, fitness training -- an increased level of exercise -- may improve some mental processes even more than moderate activity, say the authors of the review, which is being presented at the 114th Annual Convention of the American Psychological Association (APA).

There are varying opinions on the benefits of exercise and activity, said authors Arthur F. Kramer, PhD, Kirk I. Erickson, PhD and Stanley J. Colcombe of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, "but our review of the last 40 years of research does offer evidence that physical exercise can have a positive influence on cognitive and brain functions in older animal and human subjects." Different methodologies were examined to comprehensively study what effects exercise can have.

The researchers first examined the epidemiological literature of diseases to determine whether exercise and physical activity can at certain points in a person's lifetime improve cognitive ability and decrease the likelihood of age-related neurological diseases, like Alzheimer's.

The authors then reviewed longitudinal randomized trial studies to see if specific fitness training had an affect on cognition and brain function in older adults. Finally, they examined animal studies to understand the molecular and cellular mechanisms responsible for exercise effects on the brain as well as on learning and memory.

Based on a review of the epidemiological literature, the authors found a significant relationship between physical activity and later cognitive function and decreased occurrence of dementia. And the benefits may last several decades.

In a few of the studies that examined men and women over 65 years old, the findings showed that those who exercised for at least 15-30 minutes at a time three times a week were less likely to develop Alzheimer's Disease, even if they were genetically predisposed to the disease.

By examining the human intervention studies, a relationship was also found between fitness training and improved cognition, more efficient brain function and retained brain volume in older people, said Kramer. He cautions that different fitness training regimens and aspects of mental functions need further study to solidify a causal relationship.

But, he added, there are some preliminary positive findings. In a four-year study looking at the relationship between physical activity on cognition and brain function in 62-70 year olds, "those who continued to work and retirees who exercised showed sustained levels of cerebral blood flow and superior performance on general measures of cognition as compared to the group of inactive retirees," said Kramer.

Other studies confirmed the evidence that fitness does have positive effects on brain function in older adults. A study of older adults who were randomly assigned to either a walking group or a stretching and toning control group for six months found that those in the walking group were better able to ignore distracting information in a distractibility task than those in the control group.

"Aerobically trained older adults showed increased neural activities in certain parts of the brain that involved attention and reduced activity in other parts of the brain that are sensitive to behavioral conflict," said Kramer.

Animal studies also provide support for the aging benefits of physical activity. Analyzing the effects of exercise in animal populations provides a unique window into learning about exercise-induced neurological and cognitive plasticity -- the ability of parts of the brain to function in place of other parts of the brain, said Dr. Kramer.

Some of the animal studies reviewed used voluntary-wheel running experiments to show the existence of performance benefits of wheel running on hippocampus-related spatial learning tasks. Moreover, a few studies found that aged rodents that exercised in a water maze learned and retained information about a hidden platform better than age-matched controls.

Exercise also protected both young and aged animals from developing some age-related diseases as indicated by increases in certain neurochemical levels that can offset or prevent certain pathological diseases.

"From this review we have found that physical and aerobic exercise training can lower the risk for developing some undesirable age-related changes in cognitive and brain functions," said Dr. Kramer, "and also help the brain maintain its plasticity -- ability to cover one function if another starts failing later in life."

More research is needed to know exactly how much and what types of exercise produce the most rapid and significant effects on thinking and the brain; how long exercise effects last following the end of training; or how much exercise is needed to get continued benefits, said Kramer.

Report Your Experience
If you've had a bad experience -- or a good one -- with a consumer product or service, we'd like to hear about it. All complaints are reviewed by class action attorneys and are considered for publication on our site. Knowledge is power! Help spread the word. File your consumer report now.