Lots of research shows physical activity can improve cognition in healthy older people, potentially lowering their risk of developing dementia.
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“Based on the results we heard reported today at AAIC 2015, exercise or regular physical activity might play a role in both protecting your brain from Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias, and also living better with the disease if you have it”, said Maria Carrillo, PhD, Alzheimer’s Association Chief Science Officer. Another found that exercise may reduce levels of the protein tau, a key hallmark of some forms of dementia, in people with mild cognitive impairment. New research suggests poor sleep may increase people’s risk of Alzheimer’s disease, by spurring a brain-clogging gunk that in turn further interrupts shut-eye. Exercisers had better blood flow in the memory and processing centers of their brains and had measurable improvement in attention, planning, and organizing abilities referred to as executive function.
The third study included 71 adults ages 56 to 96 with vascular cognitive impairment.
The new findings come against the backdrop of rising hope that earlier detection and combination therapies may succeed in preventing, delaying or even reversing Alzheimer’s disease.
Research from the Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute and University of British Columbia focused on vascular cognitive impairment, or mini-strokes.
Studies have shown that sleep disruption is clearly a underappreciated factor and is definitely a cause that increases the risk of Alzheimer’s disease.
In older adults with mild cognitive impairment – a condition that frequently precedes an Alzheimer’s diagnosis – one study found that a program of regular intensive aerobic exercise reduced the quantity of tau protein found in cerebrospinal fluid – a rough measure of its presence in the brain.
For instance, Dr. Laura Baker’s study from Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, North Carolina shows that with the 70 patients that they have studied from 55-89 years of age and who were also diagnosed with pre-diabetes and amnestic mild cognitive impairment (MCI), much improvement was seen.
“These findings are important because they strongly suggest a potent lifestyle intervention such as aerobic exercise can impact Alzheimer’s-related changes in the brain”, Baker said in a statement.
Functional brain scans before and after the six-month study showed that the brains of study participants became more efficient with aerobic exercise training.
This study was one of many presented at the annual conference.
Her team assigned them to work out at community facilities, doing either supervised aerobics – usually on a treadmill – or stretching for 45 minutes to an hour, four times a week. The results of their trials show that Solanezumab prevents this attachment, thus stopping the progress of the disease.
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“We baby these people”, she said. Depriving mice of sleep spurred toxic amyloid build-up and, intriguingly, once those deposits began, the mice stayed awake longer on their own. In addition, women’s quality of life declined at a faster rate.
