Aging is an inevitable part of life. On the other hand, there’s nothing strange about aging, but it’s important to be healthy as you move forward. Therefore, it is important to focus on nutritional diets and engage in daily training. One of the biggest challenges associated with older adults with age is dementia. This condition is severe enough to interfere with daily life, along with affecting memory, thoughts and reasoning. How to beat this? Lift the weight. Yes, groundbreaking research recently discovered that exercise can help reduce dementia In the elderly.
A recent study conducted at Campinas State University (UniCamp) in Sao Paulo, Brazil suggests that weight training may help protect older people from dementia. Research results published in the journal Jerociencedemonstrates that strength training can improve memory and alter the brain anatomy of individuals with mild cognitive impairment (MCI).
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To study the effects of exercise on older adults, the researchers looked at 44 people with mild cognitive impairment. This is a mid-clinical manifestation of normal aging and Alzheimer’s disease, indicating that cognitive decline is greater than expected for age and is at a higher risk of dementia. They discovered that strength training not only improves memory performance, but also changes the anatomy of the brain.
After six months of weight training (twice a week), participants showed protection against atrophy of the hippocampus and anterior mammals, brain regions associated with Alzheimer’s disease. They also discovered mappolises of parameters (white matter integrity) that reflect neuronal health.
“We already knew there was physical improvement. We imagined cognitive improvement, but we wanted to see the effects of weight training on the brains of older people with mild cognitive impairment. Fortunately, weight training has shown that even people who are already at high risk of developing it are a strong ally against dementia.
This study is the first to examine the effects of weight training on white matter integrity in individuals with MCI.
The researchers also performed neuropsychological examinations and MRI scans of participants at the beginning and end of the study. These results indicate that increasing muscle strength is associated with a lower risk of dementia, and therefore more physical educators should be included in the public health system at the primary health care level. “It’s a less complicated, less expensive treatment that can protect people from serious illnesses,” said Marcio Balthazar, researcher and research supervisor at Brainn.
“For example, new anti-amyloid drugs approved in the US cost around US$30,000 a year for people with dementia treatment and mild cognitive impairment, which is extremely expensive.
Well, you now have another reason to lift the weights.
