Avoiding dementia might be much easier than previously predicted. Slipping on your walking shoes for a promenade of 6 miles is apparently a way to inhibit brain problems like dementia.
At the University of Pittsburgh, a study revealed that walking for approximately 6 miles reduced the risk of dementia. It has been shown that a promenade protects people against a rapid decrease in cognitive abilities.
The size of the brain does with age shrink. This is a general factor for the birth of dementia. Studies conducted in the past have already revealed that physical activities tend to enforce brain tissues. Nevertheless, long-term studies haven’t been performed to confirm this theory until this longitudinal study gives remarkable information of how to avoid dementia.
The study involved 299 individuals aged on average 78 years. They were all healthy and did not have any previous symptoms of dementia. The participants were asked to calculate the number of blocks that they passed during a week.
The researchers did after nine-year measure the brain size of the elders involved in the study. High resolution brain scans were used. The research revealed that women and men who had been walking more in the start of the “study had significantly more gray matter”. Participants who walked around 6 to 9 miles per week were best-off, and this applied even after considering factors such as body mass index (BMI), age, sex and education. However, there were no particular health benefits noted to be associated to brain size if one walked more than 9 miles per week.
In another four years (summing up to 13 years in total), roughly 40 percent of the participant suffered from cognitive impairment, gradual dementia or other issues related to concentration, language and memory. After analyzing the brain scans, it was revealed that cognitive function and walking patterns were associated. People who walked a lot had more gray matter and was thus 50 percent less likely to develop cognitive impairment related to memory and thinking.
Lewis Kuller, M.D., epidemiologists said that the study was special in the sense that information was based on an analysis of the brain itself and not on mere opinions provided by participants. The study suggests that walking have positive effects on the pace of brain changes. It is also interesting to note that walking is known to be a typical physical exercise for many adults.
The study does not totally confirm that walking avoids cognitive decline, but it does suggest that people who walk seem to have better brain functioning.
Daniel Kaufer, M.D, neurologists from the University of North Caroline-Chapel Hill says that physical activities are the most recommended way to decrease the potential risk of mental problems such as dementia. The study confirms this on a long-term perspective.
Kaufer who wasn’t involved in the study says that physical activates showed a direct relation to the brain size of participants. This was confirmed via the brain scans conducted nine years after the study began. Thirteen years after the start of the study physical activities (walking) demonstrated critical information of how to circumvent dementia – Walking for more than 6 miles seemed to slash the risk of memory troubles by 50 percent.
In the Journal Circulation (August issue) a study explains that as the “heart pumped more blood to the veins of the brain”, its size remains more stable as years elapse. Physical exercise is related to a rise in blood flow. The increase in supply of nutrients and extraction of waste products from the brain might be the main reason why the brain size shrinks at a slower pace for those who walked around 6 to 9 miles per week.
The conclusion of the study is that we can try to walk away from dementia.
Mon, Nov 1, 2010
Anti Aging, Lifestyle