More Good Reasons to Exercise Regularly (Hint: It Helps Your Brain)
A timely reminder during this holiday season, and as we plan our New Year’s Resolutions. Exercise regularly! From the Washington Post, reports of research from the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health:
Evidence continues to accumulate that physical activity can help hold off the changes in the brain associated with Alzheimer’s Disease, and perhaps the devastating symptoms of the disease itself. The latest information comes from researchers at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, who looked at 317 late-middle aged adults and determined that those who exercised five times a week or more had fewer of the age-related changes in the brain that are associated with the disease, and did better on cognitive tests.
Age remains the single greatest risk factor for Alzheimer’s, greater even than having the gene found in many people with the disease, the study confirmed. But “what we have shown here is that physical activity diminishes the deleterious influence of age,” said Ozioma Okonkwo, an assistant professor of medicine at the school who led the study.