Dr Ian Le Guillou, research officer at Alzheimer’s Society, said: “This study looks at cardiovascular risk factors, such as smoking and alcohol, in people under 50 and over 50, and how these may affect the size of the brain”.
Advertisement
The findings are in line with recommendations by the Alzheimer’s Association on ways to decrease the risk of cognitive decline. The Alzheimer’s Association recommends a mix of healthy eating, physical activity, a rich social life and stimulating mental challenges.
The researchers analysed results from 1,629 individuals and divided the participants into two age groups. The other group received only standard treatment without any sport.
The results showed that the benefits are clear. Additionally, participants who exercised most frequently and vigorously had improvements on mental speed, as assessed by the Symbol Digit Modalities Test (SDMT), suggesting a dose-response relationship between exercise and cognitive improvement.
People who drank and smoked were more likely to have a smaller hippocampus whereas those who drank, were overweight and had high blood sugar were more likely to have a smaller precuneus. Exercise “may prove to be an effective complement or combination with antidementia drugs”.
The other study was conducted in North Carolina by researchers belonging to the Wake Forest School of Medicine in Winston Salem. One group of 65 older adults in the six-month controlled trial participated in 45 to 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous aerobic exercise four times weekly, while the remaining participants performed gentle stretching.
Smoking, alcohol consumption, diabetes and obesity are known to cause risk to the heart, increasing chances of cardiovascular diseases like heart attack, stroke, and cardiac arrest.
Welcoming the results, a UK Alzheimer’s expert said: “What is good for your heart is good for your head”. “No now approved medication can rival these effects”.
These patients had been diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment (MCI).
Specific cardiovascular risk factors, such as alcohol consumption, smoking, obesity and diabetes, are associated with smaller regional brain volumes that may be early indicators of Alzheimer’s disease and dementia according to a study published online in the journal Radiology. Because of each region’s connection to memory retrieval, gray matter volume loss in these areas may be a predictor of Alzheimer’s disease and dementia.
The first study was conducted by Dr. Steen Hasselbalch and his team from the Danish Dementia Research Center at the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen. The studies have been presented and approved by the Alzheimer’s Association worldwide Conference (AAIC).
Liu-Ambrose T et al.
Advertisement
Baker L et al.
