Exercise Could Help Treat Alzheimer's Disease
Physical exercise may not only reduce the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease and dementia, it may also prove effective at treating the conditions, according to 3 recent studies.
While previous research has suggested that low levels of physical activity may increase an individuals chance of cognitive decline, there is a lack of data on the effects of physical activity on the symptoms of Alzheimer’s and the physical changes to the brain that take place in the disease.
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In the first of the 3 studies, 200 participants with mild to moderate Alzheimer’s disease were assigned to either 16 weeks of a supervised, group exercise program or to a control group.
Overall, researchers observed that those in the exercise group experienced far fewer neuropsychiatric symptoms than those in the control group, and also saw their psychiatric symptoms—including anxiety and depression—improve compared to the control group.
In the 2nd study, researchers randomly assigned 65 sedentary adults with cognitive impairment to either a supervised aerobic group or to a group that did stretching exercises 4 times a week.
After 6 months of follow-up, participants in the aerobic group had significantly reduced levels of tau tangles—brain lesions associated with Alzheimer’s disease—than those in the stretching group. They also showed improvements in memory, attention, planning, and executive function, due to improved blood flow to corresponding regions of the brain.
In the last study, researchers assigned 62 participants with mild vascular cognitive impairment (VCI) to either an aerobic exercise group or a group or to standard VCI care.
Overall, those participants in the exercise group showed significant improvements in their cognitive function compared with the control group.
“Based on the results we heard reported today at AAIC 2015, exercise or regular physical activity might play a role in both protecting your brain from Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias, and also living better with the disease if you have it,” researchers wrote.
“These findings also highlight the potential value of non-drug therapies for Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias, and remind us that research ought to adamantly pursue combination and multi-modal approaches to Alzheimer’s therapy and prevention.”
—Michael Potts
Reference:
Alzheimers Association. Going beyond risk reduction: physical exercise may be an effective treatment for alzheimer’s disease and vascular dementia [press release]. https://www.alz.org/aaic/releases_2015/Thurs1130amET.asp. July 23, 2015.