Aging & Alzheimer’s awareness – Week 4 of 4

Exercising four times a week could reverse the early stages of dementia – source

“Exercising four times a week could reverse the early stages of dementia, according to the dramatic results of a new study.

• People with mild cognitive impairment – often the first stages of dementia – showed significant increase in brain size when they underwent a six-month exercise programme.
• The participants, whose brain power and memory were declining before they started the programme, saw some of these symptoms reversed – demonstrating improvements in their ability to plan, multi-task and carry out normal daily activities.”
• “Doctors have long urged people to exercise throughout their lives, pointing out that physical fitness can reduce the risk of dementia and other illnesses.
• But this is the first time that experts have found such strong evidence that exercising can actually be used to treat dementia once it has struck.
• Scientists have spent decades researching drugs for dementia, and although some are making progress, there is still no treatment available to patients which can truly slow down the disease.
• Study leader Professor Laura Baker, of Wake Forest School of Medicine in North Carolina, said she is trying to find out whether exercise could be a better type of treatment than any drug.
• Presenting her findings at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference in Toronto, she said: ‘If you could bottle all of these effects and put it in a pill, would we be in a different place now?’”

~ Winston-Salem Wolfhounds GAA Health Information (#WSWGAAHEALTHINFO)