How would you like to take advantage of a free benefit that would slow down your loss of cognitive abilities by 10 years? That’s a benefit University of Miami researchers uncovered in a new study that looked at the rate of mental decline in connection with exercise, according to a report on UPI.
A previous study released by Boston University researchers showed that increasing the amount of blood flow protects brain volume, and in turn, protects the ability of the brain to function properly. The new UM study noted that participants that had little to no physical activity registered a greater decline in brain aging that their counterparts that remained active.
Dr. Clinton Wright, an associate professor of neurology at the University of Miami said in a press release that physical activity was an “attractive option,” mainly because it doesn’t interfere with other medications and it is a very low-cost treatment.
Researchers analyzed the data collected by using the Northern Manhattan Study, which assesses the cognition of participants by measuring processing speed, semantic memory, episodic memory, and executive function. The team recruited 876 participants, 90 percent of which reported engaging in light exercise, and the other 10 percent said they exercised at moderate to heavy levels.
After an original assessment, the individuals were re-assessed after a period of seven years, and again five years after that. The results show that overall, people that experienced the least amount of exercise at the beginning of the study had a more significant decline in brain function, as compared the those with greater levels of exercise. The difference in decline was equivalent to about 10 years of aging, according to the researchers.
Dr. Wright continued by saying the number of people over the age of 65 is increasing each year, and those additional seniors, suffering from loss of cognitive abilities, will add to the burden on the public health system for years to come. Wright says their study shows that can be reduced by getting regular exercise, which will enable seniors to keep their mental abilities sharper for a longer time.
Findings from the new study were published in the Journal of the American Academy of Neurology.