Can Aerobic Exercise Improve Cognitive Function and Decrease Alzheimer’s Disease Risk?

Share on Pinterest
Researchers have found evidence that working out can help people with mild cognitive decline. MoMo Productions/Getty Images
  • Researchers are investigating ways to help improve cognitive function and potentially decrease dementia risk.
  • One in three seniors dies from Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia and it kills more people than breast and prostate cancers combined.
  • Now a new study has found evidence that one year of aerobic exercise training improved cardiorespiratory fitness, cerebral blood flow regulation, and memory function in people with mild cognitive impairment.

Moderate to vigorous-intensity aerobic exercise may benefit adults with mild cognitive impairment, according to a new study by researchers at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. Finding ways to help people with mild cognition is important to potentially combat rising cases of Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia.

The study, published in the Journal of Applied Physiology, found evidence that one year of aerobic exercise training improved cardiorespiratory fitness, cerebral blood flow regulation, and memory function in people with mild cognitive impairment.

“Aerobic exercise is very important for improving both vascular function and brain function,” said Rong Zhang, PhD, a professor of neurology at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, a research scientist at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas, and the study’s principal investigator. “The brain is a unique organ. It needs constant blood flow and oxygen supply.”

Source: healthline