Physical activity may help prevent mild cognitive impairment conversion to dementia

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-11/bc-wpa111220.php

News Release 12-Nov-2020
BMC (BioMed Central)

Exercising more than once per week is associated with a lower risk of developing Alzheimer's disease in patients with mild cognitive impairment, research published in the open access journal Alzheimer's Research and Therapy suggests. Mild cognitive impairment is a condition that causes people to have more problems with memory and thinking than is normal for someone their age. People with mild cognitive impairment have a ten-fold higher risk of developing Alzheimer's disease than the general population.

A team of researchers from Yonsei University College of Medicine, Republic of Korea, found that compared with people with mild cognitive impairment who did not exercise, those who carried out vigorous or moderate physical activity for at least ten minutes more than once per week had an 18% lower risk of developing Alzheimer's disease. Among those who exercised more than once per week, people with mild cognitive impairment who exercised three to five times per week had a 15% lower risk of developing Alzheimer's disease than those who exercised less than three to five times per week.

Those with mild cognitive impairment who started exercising after their diagnosis had an 11% lower risk of developing Alzheimer's disease than people who did not exercise at all. Stopping exercise after being diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment was associated with the same risk of developing Alzheimer's disease as not exercising before or after diagnosis.


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