Delaying Dementia – Why Exercise Can Help Alzheimer’s Patients

With an aging world population, it is estimated that the number of people suffering from Alzheimer’s disease is likely to rise from the present 26.6 million to a staggering 106.5 million in 2050. A delay in the onset of the illness by 12 months would translate into a reduction of 9.2 million cases of Alzheimer’s across the world. Clearly, all measures which delay the terrible effects of the disease are to be welcomed with open arms.

The Impact of Physical Exercise

A randomized controlled study conducted between 2004 and 2007 in Perth, Australia found that physical exercise yielded a modest but significant beneficial effect on elderly patients showing prodromal signs of the illness, although none had yet met the criteria for dementia. 138 patients took part, of which 40% were women. The average age was 68 years. All the patients reported memory problems and attained low scores on the cognitive tests of the Alzheimer’s disease scale.

One group of patients (the physical activity group) was assigned a home exercise program while the other (the usual care or control group) received educational input on memory loss, healthy diet, stress management, alcohol consumption and smoking, but no physical activity was prescribed.

Patients in the physical activity group used walking as the principal source of exercise, which they were asked to do for three 50 minute sessions each week. Some participants used light weight training or other aerobic exercise, but maintained the 150 minute weekly exercise requirement.

The physical activity group participants effectively had 142 minutes per week more exercise as compared with those in the control group. After 18 months, both groups were evaluated using the Alzheimer’s Disease Assessment Scale used at the start of the program.

Participants in the physical activity group showed a 0.73 point improvement in cognitive test results, while the control group showed only a 0.04 improvement. Improvements were also seen in the intervention group in scores for clinical dementia rating and delayed word recall. While the improvements were modest, the researchers consider them significant – the amount of physical exercise recommended was relatively small and gentle but produced discernible positive effects.

Conclusion

Precisely how the exercise yielded positive effects is not clear but the team speculates that they may well be associated with enhanced brain perfusion and cerebrovascular functioning, as well as the environmental enrichment which often follows increased activity. As the team did not have access to advanced brain imaging techniques, they were unable to measure the potential physiological processes involved. Even so, the researchers insist that increased physical activity has several other health benefits for patients suffering early dementia; similar to other research studies which have demonstrated exercise-induced improvements in depressed patients, those with cardiovascular issues, disabilities or even individuals recovering from falls.

While there is no evidence to suggest that the eventual onset of Alzheimer’s can be permanently prevented, delaying onset is in itself a form of prevention. If cognitive capacities can be conserved and sustained – with all the associated personal, social and medical benefits – through moderate exercise, it is a most attractive component of a treatment approach which promises few, if any, negative side-effects.

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