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Mental, Physical Activity May Prevent Alzheimers

Wed, 05/24/2000 - 12:00am — Karen Stevenson
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Keeping active, either physically or mentally, in the midlife years may help prevent Alzheimer's disease, according to a study presented at the American Academy of Neurology's 52nd Annual Meeting. Robert Friedland, MD, a neurologist at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine and University Hospitals of Cleveland, OH, was the primary author of the study.

This research found that participation in intellectual and physical activities had a significant impact on the likilhood of later development of Alzheimers Disease. Intellectual activities ranged from reading and painting to jigsaw puzzles, woodworking and knitting, whereas physical activity ran the gamut from gardening to racquet sports. The healthy participants had been more active between the ages of 40 and 60 than had the patients with Alzheimer's, even after the data was adjusted to take into account differences, such as age, income, gender and education.

The study's findings also suggest that it is never too late to get started - at least as far as intellectual activities are concerned. "A relative increase in the amount of time devoted to intellectual activities from early adulthood (ages 20 to 39) to mid-adulthood (ages 40 to 60) was associated with a significant decrease in the probability of having Alzheimer's disease later in life," said Friedland.

The research suggests that the brain stimulation associated with intellectual and physical activities works against the neurodegeneration of diseases such as Alzheimer's. Although scientists cannot rule out the possibility that lower activity levels are themselves symptoms of the disease in its very early stages, Friedland believes that to be unlikely, because the study looked at levels of activity from at least five years before the onset of dementia.

Keeping active, either physically or mentally, in the midlife years may help prevent Alzheimer's disease, according to a study presented at the American Academy of Neurology's 52nd Annual Meeting. Robert Friedland, MD, a neurologist at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine and University Hospitals of Cleveland, OH, was the primary author of the study.

This research found that participation in intellectual and physical activities had a significant impact on the likilhood of later development of Alzheimers Disease. Intellectual activities ranged from reading and painting to jigsaw puzzles, woodworking and knitting, whereas physical activity ran the gamut from gardening to racquet sports. The healthy participants had been more active between the ages of 40 and 60 than had the patients with Alzheimer's, even after the data was adjusted to take into account differences, such as age, income, gender and education.

The study's findings also suggest that it is never too late to get started - at least as far as intellectual activities are concerned. "A relative increase in the amount of time devoted to intellectual activities from early adulthood (ages 20 to 39) to mid-adulthood (ages 40 to 60) was associated with a significant decrease in the probability of having Alzheimer's disease later in life," said Friedland.

The research suggests that the brain stimulation associated with intellectual and physical activities works against the neurodegeneration of diseases such as Alzheimer's. Although scientists cannot rule out the possibility that lower activity levels are themselves symptoms of the disease in its very early stages, Friedland believes that to be unlikely, because the study looked at levels of activity from at least five years before the onset of dementia.