Word: dementia
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...appreciated the scope of your reporting. But as a geriatric-care manager, I couldn't help noticing the lack of information about the elderly. I have witnessed wildly happy romances between men and women in their 80s and 90s, even those with physical difficulties or dementia. My hope is that we can drop any archaic stigmas about this phase of life and realize that it is never too late for love and companionship. Ellen D. Waldman, ASHLAND...
While the researchers discovered no noticeable impact of exercise upon development of Alzheimer's - the neurodegenerative disease that accounts for roughly 70% of all cases of dementia - they found a marked impact on the risk of developing vascular dementia, the second most common variation after Alzheimer's. As its name implies, vascular dementia is a condition where restricted blood flow to certain parts of the brain impacts cognitive abilities, affecting the tissue like a series of small strokes...
Study participants who burned the most calories per week while walking - as few as 209 extra calories per week - had a 27% lower risk of vascular dementia than people who did little to no exercise. Those who expended the most energy during moderate activities like biking or yard work had a 29% lower risk. "It means that even small amounts of inexpensive and easy-to-perform exercise - just walking - can be of help to protect you against brain vascular damage," says Dr. Giovanni Ravaglia, the study's lead author, "and this is a type of exercise that even older disabled...
...surprised by this study," says Dr. Zaldy Tan, director of the Memory Clinic at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston. "I think more and more researchers like myself are realizing that prevention is the most effective way of curbing the incidence of Alzheimer's disease and vascular dementia...
Though the current study does not definitively show that exercise prevents dementia (as opposed to being a symptom of general well-being), researchers note that regular exercise boosts health in many other important ways, including weight control and prevention of coronary disease. "I think it's premature to specifically prescribe exercise to prevent dementia, but it's not premature to prescribe exercise to prevent heart disease," says Tan. "A lot of the things that have been proven to be good for the heart, now there's accumulating evidence that these work for the brain...