Exercise offers numerous recognized benefits for both physical and mental health, including a lower risk of cardiovascular disease and diabetes, bone and muscular strength, and stress reduction. According to a preliminary study, those who are physically fitter are less likely to get Alzheimer’s disease than those who are less active.
Regular physical activity appears to be beneficial to the brain as well. Physically active persons are less likely to have a deterioration in mental function and have a lower risk of acquiring Alzheimer’s disease, according to research. Physical activity is one of the known modifiable dementia risk factors. Furthermore, regular exercise helps to counteract other risk factors for Alzheimer’s disease, such as depression and obesity.
“One intriguing result of this study is that as people’s fitness increased, their risk of Alzheimer’s disease declined — it wasn’t an all-or-nothing scenario,” said study author and American Academy of Neurology member Edward Zamrini, MD, of the Washington VA Medical Center in Washington, D.C. “As a result, people can work toward making gradual changes and gains in their physical fitness, which should be connected with a proportional decrease in their risk of Alzheimer’s years later.”
The study included 649,605 service veterans from the Veterans Health Administration database who were followed for an average of nine years and had an average age of 61. They did not have Alzheimer’s disease when the trial began.
One intriguing result of this study is that as people’s fitness increased, their risk of Alzheimer’s disease declined, it wasn’t an all-or-nothing scenario. As a result, people can work toward making gradual changes and gains in their physical fitness, which should be connected with a proportional decrease in their risk of Alzheimer’s years later.
Edward Zamrini
The cardiorespiratory fitness of the subjects was assessed by the researchers. Cardiorespiratory fitness is a measurement of how well your body transfers oxygen to your muscles and how well your muscles absorb oxygen while exercising.
The participants were sorted into five categories, with the least fit being the least fit and the most fit being the most fit. Participants’ fitness levels were measured by how well they performed on a treadmill test. This test assesses exercise capacity, or the maximum amount of physical exertion a person can tolerate. Walking briskly most days of the week for two and a half hours or more each week can achieve the best degree of fitness for persons in their forties and fifties.
Alzheimer’s disease was diagnosed at a rate of 9.5 cases per 1,000 person-years in the group with the lowest degree of fitness, compared to 6.4 cases per 1,000 person-years in the group with the highest level of fitness. Person-years account for both the number of participants in a study and the length of time spent on the study. The case rate declined as fitness level climbed, with 8.5 for the second least fit group, 7.4 for the middle group, and 7.2 for the second most fit group.
When the researchers controlled for other characteristics that could influence the risk of Alzheimer’s disease, they discovered that persons in the most fit group were 33% less likely to develop the condition than those in the least fit group. The second most fit group was 26% less likely to have the condition, the middle group was 20% less likely, and those in the second least fit group were 13% less likely to develop the disease than those in the least fit group.
“The idea that you may reduce your risk of Alzheimer’s disease by merely increasing your exercise is quite intriguing, especially given that there are no adequate medications to prevent or slow the advancement of the disease,” Zamrini said. “We intend to establish a simple, personalized scale so that people can recognize the benefits that even minor changes in fitness can provide.”
The definition of “physical activity” or “exercise” used in the research studies in this area varies. In general, they are talking to aerobic activity that is done over an extended amount of time, such as 20–30 minutes. The majority of the research focus on the effects of aerobic exercise done several times per week for at least a year.
Physical exercise, on the other hand, does not simply imply playing a sport or going for a run. It can also refer to a regular activity like brisk walking, cleaning, or gardening. According to one study, everyday physical tasks such as cooking and cleaning can lessen the incidence of Alzheimer’s disease. The study’s participants were largely white men, therefore the findings may not be generalizable to other communities.
