Moderate exercise boost aging brains

Walking and other types of moderate exercise may help turn back the clock for older adults who are losing their mental sharpness, a new clinical trial finds. A simple aerobic exercise such as walking can improve thinking skills in older people as long as it is done moderately for an extended period of time. Research […]

Walking and other types of moderate exercise may help turn back the clock for older adults who are losing their mental sharpness, a new clinical trial finds.

A simple aerobic exercise such as walking can improve thinking skills in older people as long as it is done moderately for an extended period of time. Research has shown that exercise helps to prevent the aging of the brain and to keep mild cognitive impairment (MCI), a precursor of dementia in seniors

The study focused on older adults who had milder problems with memory and thinking skills. The researchers found that six months of moderate exercise walking or pedaling a stationary bike turned some of those issues around.

Specifically, exercisers saw improvements in their executive function — the brain’s ability to pay attention, regulate behavior, get organized and achieve goals. And those who also made some healthy diet changes, including eating more fruits and vegetables, showed somewhat bigger gains.

The lead researcher James Blumenthal, a professor at Duke University School of Medicine, in Durham, North Carolina, USA said, the effect was equivalent to shaving about nine years from their brain age. “In contrast, those same mental abilities kept declining among study participants who received health education only.”

Experts said the findings support the general concept that a healthy lifestyle can help protect the brain as you age.

The director of scientific programs and outreach for the Alzheimer’s Association, Keith Fargo who said, the people in this study were older, already had cognitive (mental) impairments and cardiovascular risk factors, and they were sedentary added it’s never too late to start.

Fargo, who was not involved in the research, described the findings as “great news while saying that this was a clinical trial that actually put exercise to the test. “Many past studies have found that physically active people tend to be in better mental shape as they age. But those studies don’t prove cause and effect.”

The lead researcher, Blumenthal echoed the “never too late” message, and also said the exercise routine used in the trial was very accessible. “People walked or rode a stationary bike three times a week, for 35 minutes with a 10 minute warmup. They weren’t training for a marathon,” he added.

He said the same of the diet changes some study participants made. They followed the so called DASH diet, which is routinely recommended for people with high blood pressure. It is rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains and healthy unsaturated fats, and low in sodium, sugar, and meat and dairy high in saturated fat.

Fargo agreed that those changes are within reach for most older adults. “Almost everyone can get up and sweat a few times a week,” he said. “Almost everyone can eat more fruits and vegetables than they already do.”

For the study, Blumenthal’s team recruited 160 adults, aged 55 and older, who had complaints about their memory and thinking abilities. Objective tests confirmed that they had signs of impairment.

None had full-blown dementia, such as Alzheimer’s disease. But at the outset, the group’s performance on tests of executive function was similar to that of people in their early 90s even though their real average age was about 65.

After six months, both exercise groups showed improvements in tests of executive function, while the health-education group continued to decline. People who exercised and followed the DASH diet seemed to fare best but the diet alone did not make a statistically significant difference.