Exercise May Help People Who Already Have Memory Loss
Here is to another proof that exercising never really gets old. A recent study has suggested that exercising offers benefitsto the elderly people who are dealing with memory problems, focus, as well as thinking problems.
Canadian researchers have found out that those individuals who are regularly exercising are showing improvements when they were given memory skills and thinking test as compared to other individuals who do not exercise at all.
According to Teresa Liu-Ambrose, associate professor at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver and the lead researcher of the study,“We found that three times a week of moderate intense aerobic exercise, such as brisk walking, significantly improved cognitive function in older adults with impaired cognitive function due to disease affecting the small blood vessels in the brain.”
Liu-Ambrose has said that those people involved in the research had experienced mental degeneration which is caused by the narrowing of the brain’s blood vessels, which is also notably the number two cause of dementia next to Alzheimer’s.
While the signs of mental improvements were relatively moderate, it was the same to the results exhibited by people who were instead tested with drugs to deal with similar memory problem. “However, the difference was less than what is considered to be the minimal clinically important difference,” Liu-Ambrose remarked.
Liu-Ambrose further stated that, “While future studies are needed to replicate and confirm our results, given the well-established benefits of exercise as well as the fact there are few treatment options available for people with this condition, aerobic exercise appears to be a sensible treatment option with minimal side effects and cost.”
During their study, Liu-Ambrose with her fellow researchers have dealt with 70 individuals with the average ages of 74 and are having minor memory and thinking issues.
The participants were all tested at the beginning of the course of the study.The said tests evaluated the participants general thinking skills, executive functional capabilities like organization and planning as well as how they cope up with common everyday tasks. Of the 70, half were subjected to one hour of exercise classes thrice per week for a total of six months. The remaining half were given advise about mental degeneration in relation to healthy diet but without any involvement of physical exercise or activity.
Six months later, they were all tested again. Based on the study, on one test which scored 11 points, it was identified that those participants who were involved in the exercise classes improved at almost two points.
Here is the catch though, after the six months of exercise has ended, the scores of those participants turned out to be the same with those who were not exercising. There was also no difference this time in the groups assessment results concerning either their executive functional capabilities nor daily activities.
Hence, Dr. Alexandra Foubert-Samier, who works at the Institute of Neurodegenerative Diseases at Bordeaux University in France stated that, “This study found some interesting results concerning the practice of physical activities against cognitive decline, but it must be confirmed by future studies. One must be careful about the scope of the results of this study, although it is encouraging.”
Dr. Foubert-Samierfurther said that physical activities can potentially protect against mental declination although additional supporting researches are needed to further assert it. “Nevertheless, physical activity is good for health, especially for protecting against cardiovascular risk factors,” she added.
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