Physical Activities May Help Keep Alzheimer’s At Bay

Daily physical activity can reduce the risk of Alzheimer's disease and cognitive impairment, even in people over 80 years, a new study has suggested. Neurological researchers at Rush University Medical Center were behind the study.
"The results of our study indicate that all physical activities, including exercise and other associated activities such as cooking, washing dishes and cleaning with a reduced risk of Alzheimer's disease `` s," said Dr. Aron S. Buchman, lead author of the study and associate professor of neuroscience at Rush.
"These results support efforts to encourage all kinds of physical activity, even in the very old may not be able to participate in formal exercise, but still enjoy an active lifestyle"
"This is the first study, the objective measures of physical activity, in addition to self-reporting use," said Dr. Aron S. Buchman, Principal Investigator and Associate Professor of Neurological Sciences at Rush. "This is important because people are not able to remember the details correctly." Said Dr. Frank Buchman.
For the measurement of daily exercise and lack of exercise, physical activity, the researchers asked 716 seniors without dementia at Rush, with a mean age of 82 to a device called accelerometry using the monitors activity in the non-dominant wrist continuously for 10 days .The whole movement and lack of exercise, physical activity was recorded. Study participants were also given cognitive tests annually over this ongoing study to measure the memory and cognitive abilities. The participants presented their physical and social activities.
The study participants were people from the hustle and memory Aging Project, an ongoing study, the association of local longitudinal chronic diseases of aging.
During a mean 3.5 years follow-up, 71 participants developed Alzheimer's disease.
The study found that people in the lower 10 percent of physical activity every day, more than twice as likely (2.3 times) of developing Alzheimer's disease than people were in 10 percent of daily activity.
The study also showed that these people in the lower 10 percent of the intensity of physical activity almost three times (2.8 times) more likely to develop Alzheimer's than people were in the larger percentage of physical activity.
"From the actigraph was attached to the wrist, activities such as cooking, washing dishes, playing cards, and even to move a wheelchair with a person's arm was an advantage," said Buchman.
"These are low cost, easy access and side effects free people can do things at any age, to avoid including a very advanced age, possibly Alzheimer's disease," he said.
The study was published in the online issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.