Regular Exercise Slows Down Progression Of Alzheimer’s Disease
July 15th, 2008 | by admin |
Results of a new study find that exercising on a regular basis may slow down the progression of Alzheimer’s disease.
Alzheimer’s disease is a brain degenerative disorder that eventually leads to the death of the patient.
It is caused by plaque build up on the brain, and is characterized by the loss of memory function amongst other things.
For their study, researchers from the United States looked at approximately 120 people, about half of whom were in the early stages of the disease.
They found that those patients who did not exercise had considerably more signs of brain shrinkage than did those patients who did exercise.
“People with early Alzheimer’s disease who were less physically fit had four times more brain shrinkage when compared to normal older adults than those who were more physically fit, suggesting less brain shrinkage related to the Alzheimer’s disease process in those with higher fitness levels,” the researchers write.
The brains of all of us shrink as we age, but this process is double as fast in Alzheimer’s disease patients.
The study is published in the journal Neurology.
