Exercising four times a week could reverse the early stages of dementia, according to the dramatic results of a new study.
People with mild cognitive impairment – often the first stages of dementia – showed significant increase in brain size when they underwent a six-month exercise programme.
The participants, whose brain power and memory were declining before they started the programme, saw some of these symptoms reversed – demonstrating improvements in their ability to plan, multi-task and carry out normal daily activities.
Blood flow to the brain increased and they showed lower levels of a protein called tau, which attacks brain cells and is thought to play a role in Alzheimer’s disease.
People with mild cognitive impairment – often the first stages of dementia – showed significant increase in brain size when they underwent a six-month exercise programme (file image)
The volunteers, who were aged 55 to 89, carried out 45 minutes of intensive exercise in a gym four times a week – in which they had to get their heart rate up to at least 70 per cent of its maximum. For most people, that is the heart rate achieved by a gentle jog.
A second group, who simply did gentle stretches, showed none of the improvements seen by the first.
Their brains shrank, blood flow to the brain remained poor, and their ability to carry out normal tasks continued to decline as it had before. Their tau levels did not decrease.
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Doctors have long urged people to exercise throughout their lives, pointing out that physical fitness can reduce the risk of dementia and other illnesses.
But this is the first time that experts have found such strong evidence that exercising can actually be used to treat dementia once it has struck.
Scientists have spent decades researching drugs for dementia, and although some are making progress, there is still no treatment available to patients which can truly slow down the disease.
Study leader Professor Laura Baker, of Wake Forest School of Medicine in North Carolina, said she is trying to find out whether exercise could be a better type of treatment than any drug.
Presenting her findings at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference in Toronto, she said: ‘If you could bottle all of these effects and put it in a pill, would we be in a different place now?’
But she said it is important to supervise the exercise sessions, at least initially.
Doctors have long urged people to exercise throughout their lives, pointing out that physical fitness can reduce the risk of dementia and other illnesses (file image)
Scans showed that part the brain – the hippocampus which is crucial for thought and emotion – had grown among patients who had undergone the exercise programme (file image)
‘These people are sedentary, they have mild cognitive impairment, they are not going to do this on their own,’ Professor Baker said.
The participants were fully supervised for the first two weeks, after which they were only supervised once a week. And 91 per cent of the participants fully completed the programme.
The researchers also investigated whether exercise could reverse the symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease – a vicious and advanced form of dementia.
They repeated the same exercise programme among 76 patients with Alzheimer’s.
Although the results were not as dramatic as among the patients with mild cognitive impairment, there were hints that it was beginning to have an effect.
Scans showed that part the brain – the hippocampus which is crucial for thought and emotion – had grown among patients who had undergone the exercise programme. There was no improvement in memory, but decline was slower among those who carried out aerobic exercise than those who simply did the stretching.
Professor Baker said it may simply take longer than six months to have an effect on memory for Alzheimer’s disease.
Her team is now repeating the trial on a much larger group, a trial involving more than 200 scientists and thousands of patients across the USA.
Dr James Pickett, head of research at the Alzheimer’s Society, said: ‘This research suggests that it’s never too late to take up exercise when you can.
‘When we think of new treatments for memory problems, we should make sure that we consider things alongside drugs. Whilst exercise is increasingly thought to help reduce dementia risk, some new evidence indicates that it could also benefit people who are already experiencing memory problems by helping to slow development of dementia symptoms.’
Dr Laura Phipps of Alzheimer’s Research UK added: ‘Many people are aware that regular aerobic exercise can help to improve cardiovascular health, but it has also been linked with a healthy brain and a reduced risk of developing diseases like Alzheimer’s.
‘It’s not easy to carry out trials of exercise programmes, but the results of these studies will help to build a clearer picture of the potential of such an approach. With limited treatment options for people with memory decline or dementia, it’s important to explore a range of possible therapeutic approaches.’