Regular exercise helps protect aging brains

If your determination to become more physically active has started to flag, the findings of several studies may help renew your commitment. Research has already documented that higher levels of physical activity can help prevent or ameliorate many conditions that reduce function and hamper independence as we get older, including heart disease, stroke, cancer, diabetes, osteoporosis, and depression. Various types of exercise have also been linked with a reduced risk for dementia and Alzheimer's disease.

Now four studies, including two randomized trials, add further evidence that regular exercise may be the best thing we can do to stay not only physically healthy but also cognitively sharp into old age.

Three of the studies appeared in the Jan. 25, 2010, issue of Archives of Internal Medicine. In the first study, Harvard researchers analyzed health data from more than 13,000 women participating in the long-running Nurses' Health Study. They found that the women who reported getting the most exercise at age 60 were almost twice as likely to become successful survivors, compared with the most sedentary women. (A "successful survivor" was defined as living beyond age 70 without developing cognitive, physical, or mental health limitations or any of 10 major chronic conditions, including cancer and cardiovascular disease.) Successful survival was associated with a level of exercise equivalent to walking briskly five to six hours per week.

In the second study, Canadian researchers randomly assigned 155 women ages 65 to 75 to a once- or twice-weekly progressive strength-training program that used free weights and weight machines — or to a control group that practiced toning and balance exercises twice a week. After one year, the women who did strength training improved their performance on tests of executive function. In this study, tests showed improvements specifically in the areas of selective attention and conflict resolution. These in turn were associated with improved walking speed (a predictor of falls and fracture risk). The control group didn't improve in these areas.

In another study of exercise and cognitive function, scientists found that participants who reported exercising at a moderate level (less than three times a week) or high level (three or more times a week) at the start of the study were half as likely to have developed dementia two years later, compared with those who got no exercise.

A fourth investigation, which appeared in the January 2010 Archives of Neurology, examined the effects of vigorous aerobic exercise on mild cognitive impairment (MCI). People with MCI are five to 10 times more likely to develop dementia than people with normal cognitive function. Seattle-based researchers randomly assigned 33 women and men with MCI (average age 70) to either high-intensity aerobic exercise — 45 to 60 minutes a day, four days a week — or a stretching activity control group. Overall, the aerobic exercisers had greater improvements in cognitive functioning than the control group did.

May 2010 update

Exercise: A program you can live with

 

What can improve your mood, boost your ability to fend off infection, and lower your risk for heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, and colon cancer? The answer is regular exercise. It may seem too good to be true, but it's not. Hundreds of studies demonstrate that exercise helps you feel better and live longer. This report answers many important questions about physical activity. It will also help guide you through starting and maintaining an exercise program that suits your abilities... Learn more »