Exercising against Alzheimer's
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From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, I'm Nicholas Garlow with HHS HealthBeat.
Regular exercise may offer some protection against Alzheimer's. Two studies on people in three states measured the effects of exercise on brain function over five years.
Eric Larson is a commenter, and Executive Director of the Group Health Research Institute in Seattle.
"It's very likely that regular physical activity improves the ability for blood to circulate to the brain and oxygen to get to the brain. If you have healthy blood vessels, you're very likely to be able to withstand the stress on very sensitive parts of the brain like the hippocampus." (16 seconds)
He suggests people exercise regularly.
"Even people who are demented can benefit by regular exercise." (4 seconds)
The studies in Archives of Internal Medicine were supported by the National Institutes of Health.
Learn more at hhs.gov.
HHS HealthBeat is a production of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. I'm Nicholas Garlow.