14 DAY TRIAL // A team of researchers from the Washington University in Saint Louis (WUSL) has recently determined that people practicing aerobic exercises are more capable of delaying the onset of Alzheimer's.
The investigation revealed that walking, jogging, as well as any other forms of aerobic exercises, are extremely beneficial for the human brain, which they help keep symptoms associated with dementia away.
Alzheimer's is one of the most common disorders affecting the elderly in the developed world, researchers say, and as such any breakthrough in its study could potentially help millions.
For the next decades, the number of patients suffering from this disorder will increase considerably, as will the costs these people will incur on healthcare systems.
As such, finding a cure for Alzheimer's Disease is one of the highest priorities on the list for medical research teams around the world. A number of promising leads already exist.
This is only one of them, the WUSL researchers say. The link between aerobics and Alzheimer's was not investigated before this research. The results are encouraging to say the least.
“This novel association, in conjunction with the animal work, suggests that it may be useful for physicians to recommend exercise engagement not only for Alzheimer’s symptoms but also potentially for preventative care,” explains scientist Denise Head, PhD.
“We have not researched to the point where it can be proven that exercise helps prevent Alzheimer’s symptoms, but that’s the direction we’d like to go,” adds the expert, who is an assistant professor of psychology in the WUSL Department of Arts & Sciences.
The new investigation was conducted on a group of 69 individuals, aged 55 to 88, in whom the association between exercise habits and the presence of Alzheimer’s biomarkers was analyzed.
The presence of absence of these biomarkers is tremendously important for understanding a patient's risk of developing the condition. The chemicals may indicate elevated levels of certain proteins that have been associated with the condition.
Details of the study that led to the new conclusions appear in the September 2010 issue of the esteemed scientific journal Annals of Neurology.
But the WUSTL study, published in the September 2010 issue ofAnnals of Neurology, is a unique demonstration in humans of a relationship between physical activity and the biomarkers for Alzheimer’s, according to Denise Head, PhD, assistant professor of psychology in Arts & Sciences.
“With the growing aging population in the US, Alzheimer’s is going to become an increasingly prevalent disease affecting many families and taking a significant financial toll,” explains the lead author of the study, PhD student Kelvin Y. Liang.
“Because the disease has a such a long timeline, we’re looking at a lot of lifestyle and other factors, such as exercise, that could prevent the disease before it gets to the stage where you have clinical symptoms – where there may not be as much you can do about it,” he concludes.