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To Ward Off Alzheimer's, Exercise
October 3, 2005
October 3, 2005 (Fisher Center for Alzheimer's Research Foundation) -- Want to remain mentally alert into old age? Regular exercise during your middle years may lower your risk of developing Alzheimer's disease in old age, say researchers from Sweden. Their study appeared in the online issue of The Lancet, a medical journal from Britain.
The investigators studied 1,449 randomly selected men and women aged 65 to 79. All had been given detailed surveys about their leisure-time physical activities in 1972, 1977, 1982, and 1987, when most were in the thirties, forties, or fifties. When the researchers assessed these individuals again in 1998, they found that those who, in their middle years, exercised during their free time at least twice a week were 60 percent less likely to develop Alzheimer's disease compared to sedentary men and women who exercised less than twice a week. The active individuals were also 50 percent less likely to develop other forms of dementia and memory loss. Physical activity appeared to be particularly beneficial for those who carried the APO-E4 gene, an inherited trait that increases a person's risk of developing Alzheimer's in old age.
"These findings may have wide implications for preventive healthcare," says study author Miia Kivipelto of the Aging Research Center at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm. "If an individual adopts an active lifestyle in youth and at midlife, this may increase their probability of enjoying both physically and cognitively vital years later in life."
With the number of cases of Alzheimer's expected to triple in coming decades, as the baby boom generation continues to age, physical fitness could have a huge overall impact in preventing or delaying the onset of Alzheimer's in many. While no known single lifestyle can determine who actually comes down with the memory-ravaging ailment, exercise appears to be one important factor that lowers the risk.
Mounting Evidence on Exercise Benefits
Of the 1,449 seniors in the study, 117 developed some form of dementia, including 76 who were diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. Exercise, defined as leisure-time physical activity lasting at least 20 to 30 minutes and intense enough to cause breathlessness and sweating, offered significant benefits against the onset of Alzheimer's. The benefits were apparent even after taking into account such medical and lifestyle factors as heart or blood vessel disease, smoking, and how much alcohol somebody drank.
Earlier reports have suggested that regular exercise has benefits for the brain, though results have not been conclusive. For example, two studies last year found that even modest physical activity, such as walking, offers benefits for both older men and women. [See the alzinfo.org story, "To Cut Your Alzheimer's Risk, Try Walking".] Other studies report that more robust physical activities, such as ballroom dancing, may offer benefits as well.
The current study is the longest-term to date to show the potential benefits of leisure-time physical activity on the brain. The researchers speculate that regular exercise may help to control various heart-related risk factors, including high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, and overweight, that may contribute to the onset of Alzheimer's disease. Physical activity boosts heart health and improves blood flow throughout the body, including the brain, and may also lift mood. Other recent research suggests that physical activity may help the brain to forge new connections between brain cells that are vital for a robust memory. One recent study in mice suggests that exercise may even help to reduce the buildup in the brain of beta-amyloid, a toxic substance linked to Alzheimer's disease. Exercise may have additional benefits for heart and brain health as well.
It may be especially important to exercise and adopt other healthy lifestyle measures early in life given mounting evidence that Alzheimer's risk can be cut by exercise during midlife. Alzheimer’s is a complex disease that likely depends on many factors, including the genes you inherit. Lifestyle factors are likely just one part of the preventive puzzle. While a twice-a-week game of tennis or laps around the neighborhood track won’t guarantee a physically and mentally robust old age, it may help you to look, feel, and act younger.
Click here for more on the risk factors for Alzheimer’s disease.
By alzinfo.org, The Alzheimer's Information Site. Reviewed by William J. Netzer, Ph.D., Fisher Center for Alzheimer's Research Foundation at The Rockefeller University.
Source:
Suvi Rovio, Ingemar Kareholt, Eeva-Liisa Halkala, et al: Leisure-time physical activity at midlife and the risk of dementia and Alzheimer's disease. Lanet Online: October 4, 2005.
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