The link between aerobics and Alzheimer's disease
A study from the Federal University of Sao Paulo (USP) in Brazil, published in the journal Brain Research, shows the benefits of aerobic exercise on brain health.
Research shows that aerobic exercise can have a positive impact on Alzheimer's disease right from its early stages.
Alzheimer's disease, a form of neurodegenerative disease, is characterized by the accumulation of harmful proteins in the brain such as amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles (also known as “tau” tangles).
These factors, combined with brain inflammation and nerve cell damage, play a major role in the development of the disease.
In the study, scientists experimented with old mice and put them through an eight-week aerobic exercise program to monitor the effects of exercise on brain health.
After eight weeks of exercise, amyloid plaques were reduced by 76 percent, while tau tangles were reduced by 63 percent compared to the sedentary group. Both proteins are known to play a major role in brain function decline.
Additionally, Alzheimer’s disease is characterized by nerve cell damage. However, aerobic exercise increased the number of healthy and active nerve cells by 2.5 times compared to the sedentary group of mice. Furthermore, brain inflammation in the mice was also reduced by 55% to 68%.
Aerobics helps reduce the risk of Alzheimer's disease
Also studying this issue, Gregory Panza, an exercise physiologist at the Department of Cardiology at Hartford Hospital (Connecticut, USA) and his team conducted further research on the benefits related to cognition and exercise.
They reviewed a total of 19 studies that looked at the effects of exercise in high-risk seniors. The entire analysis included 1,145 seniors at risk for Alzheimer's.
Panza revealed that all of the seniors in the study who did any type of exercise showed better cognitive function than those who did not. In fact, those who did not exercise had mild cognitive impairment.
Notably, those with a habit of aerobic exercise will have better results and prevent Alzheimer's disease more effectively in those at high risk.
