Aerobic exercise appears to improve brain function and reduce markers of neurodegeneration in older adults at risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease, according to an article on the respected US health website Medical News Today.
Laura Baker, Ph.D., principal investigator of the study and a cognitive neuroscientist at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center said these results suggest that aerobic exercise may represent a promising disease-modifying therapeutic intervention for people in the earliest stages of Alzheimer’s disease.
The study assessed levels of two proteins in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) – beta amyloid and tau. Previous studies have shown that in the presence of a neurodegenerative process such as Alzheimer’s disease, CSF levels of tau increase, while levels of beta amyloid decline as the amyloid protein is deposited as plaques in the brain. But aerobic exercise seems to reverse this trend, particularly in people who are older and start with higher levels of cognitive impairment. “We don’t know yet if we are reversing the process, protecting the brain, or just buying some time,” said Baker.
Read the full article on Medical News Today