A new study published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Diseases has revealed that fitness could be the way to improve the wellness and well-being of Alzheimer’s patients, and stave off the debilitating disease for as long as possible.
Researchers based at the University of Maryland School of Public Health carried out the study, which showed that exercise could help improve brain function in those who are at risk of developing Alzheimer’s. It is thought that this exercise could help to improve the efficiency of the brain.
There were 17 participants involved in the study, and all of them were suffering from Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI), which is another way to describe the early memory loss that is usually associated with the onset of Alzheimer’s disease. There were also 18 other people used in the study as the control subjects. Both of the groups were of a similar gender, age, education and genetic risk and they were all on the same or similar types and doses of medication.
All of the participants in the study had to take part in a 12 week programme of exercise, which consisted of walking every day on a treadmill at a moderate intensity setting, and were supervised by a personal trainer at all times.
All participants in the programme had to carry out a full memory test both before and after the 12 weeks of exercise. The first was a famous ‘name memory’ task and the second was a ‘list learning’ task that involved recalling words. Results showed that both the dementia and non-dementia group had improved fitness levels. The important result, however, showed that the fMRI tests that were taken before and after showed increased brain activity in patients with early onset dementia.
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