SCIENTISTS have urged people aged 45 to 65 to do a key activity in order to help prevent Alzheimer’s disease.
Whether we develop the memory-robbing disease – caused by a building of – won’t always be within our control.
But scientists say that increasing the could help protect our brain .
A new study conducted by experts at the Institute for Global Health and the Barcelonaβeta Brain Research Centre said boosting physical activity during middle age could be particularly beneficial.
In fact, it’s been estimated that 13 per cent of disease cases worldwide could be linked to physical inactivity.
Previous research has shown that exercise reduces the risk of Alzheimer’s disease by improving cardiovascular and .
More recent studies suggest that physical activity may directly affect how Alzheimer’s develops in the brain.
Lead author of the new study published in Alzheimer’s & Dementia – doctoral researcher Müge Akıncı – said: “We conducted a four-year follow-up of middle-aged residents of Catalonia with a family history of Alzheimer’s disease.
“We used physical activity questionnaires to assess changes in activity over a four-year period and neuroimaging tests to analyse the effects of exercise on brain structure and function.”;
The (WHO) recommends that adults engage in 150 to 300 minutes of moderate exercise or 75 to 150 minutes of vigorous exercise per week.
Participants were classified as adherent if they met WHO exercise recommendations, non-adherent if they exercised less than recommended or sedentary if they didn’t exercise at all.
Alzheimer’s disease is thought to be caused by the abnormal build-up of proteins in and around brain cells.
One of the proteins involved is called amyloid, which forms plaques around brain cells.
The other protein is called tau, which forms tangles within brain cells.
This process can begin years before begin to appear.
Participants who increased their physical activity to meet WHO-recommended levels showed less beta-amyloid accumulation in their brains than those who remained sedentary or exercised less.
Researchers also found that participants who increased their physical activity had reduced amyloid deposits in their brain.
Participants who exercises often also had more cortical thickness in brain regions associated with Alzheimer’s disease.
Cortical thickness in the medial temporal area of the brain is important for memory, so any thinning or loss of volume can be an early sign of cognitive decline.
Dr Akıncı said: “Even those who did less physical activity than recommended had greater cortical thickness than sedentary people, suggesting that any amount of exercise, no matter how minimal, has health benefits.”;
Researchers added that increasing activity over time rather than trying to reach a specific amount of hours a week seemed to benefit participants’ brain health.
Lead investigator Eider Arenaza-Urquijo said: “These findings reinforce the importance of promoting physical activity in middle age as a public health strategy for .”;
“Interventions aimed at promoting increased physical activity could be key to reducing the incidence of the disease in the .”;
