I generally avoid posting news about the latest food, vitamin, supplement, or lifestyle factor that may or may not affect your risk of dementia, for better or worse. Most of the time, it’s a one-off study that is unlikely to pan out as something that will significantly benefit most people, or else it’s just plain common sense (like the recent study that said smoking is bad for your brain health – we needed to do a study to prove that??).
Exercise, in my mind, fits the latter category, but it’s so important that I am happy to share the latest study from today’s Annals of Internal Medicine (pay-wall to access). This was a cohort study from the Cooper Center in Dallas, Texas, looking at over 19,000 people whose fitness levels have been monitored since the early 1970s.
Medicare claims in recent years have been analyzed and the incidence of claims using dementia as a diagnosis was correlated with the fitness data for the group. The bottom line: more fit meant a significantly lower incidence of dementia, even in people who had a history of a previous stroke.
Of course there are drawbacks to this kind of study. The population was mostly Caucasian and had a higher educational level than the national average. Also, the study measured overall cardiovascular fitness levels, but not what was specifically being done by each person to get fit. And the use of “dementia” on the claim forms could have been an incomplete representation.
But the study is worth reporting because when thinking about lowering our risk of cognitive loss, we need to start by reminding people to get back to the basics: Dementia is closely associated with aging of the body and of the brain. The brain is nourished by the cardiovascular system. Ergo, what’s good for the heart is good for the brain.
What’s more, the cardiovascular system is without a doubt the most important variable in good health of all kinds. I believe time will show us that what we are calling “Alzheimer’s” is more closely linked to the health of our circulatory system than we realize.
So get fit now, and worry about the blueberries, sudoku puzzles, and vitamin supplements later. This is where the money is!
Su hyoung Kim says
March 10, 2013 at 10:25 pmI am an AGNG 200 student at the Erickson School of Aging, University of Maryland Baltimore County. During class, we discuss about the issues of Aging. I agree with this article that health heart is related to health body. People tend to think that they need to eat healthier and use their brain, but as reading this article, I realize that they have to have healthier heart first. In addition, the cardiovascular system promotes brain health. To improve cardiovascular system, people just need to do something such as going swimming, riding a bike, and going for a walk. If people don’t do anything, their heart and body will operate less effectively. We can’t really exercise our brains, but we should try to have health hearts to support health bodies.
Kaila says
March 10, 2013 at 9:01 pmHello, I am an Aging 200 student at the Erickson School of Aging. As a pre-med student, I tend to be intrigued by the more physiological/biological aspects of aging. It makes complete sense that the circulatory system be the key component for brain health since the brain bathes in blood and needs that consistent and balanced flow for proper function. However, I do challenge the idea that exercise (or physical activity) supersedes dietary choices and brain teasers in the goal of brain health. Along with the promoting cardio health, our textbook has mentioned the idea that free radicals, or ionized oxygen, in our diet can destroy bodily function over time. Thus, a healthy low-glucose diet, ideal for a healthy heart, is also important to anti-aging. Unlike most other cells in the body, brain cells rarely undergo change and repair and tend to remain intact. Therefore, it makes sense that we cannot “exercise” brain cells, but rather maintain supporting parts of the body. That being said, are there no other systems responsible for this support? Our studies have also mentioned the immune system as a key component responsible for aging. As it defends the body various invaders, wouldn’t it be important in protecting the heart, blood, and thus the brain? In a recent media review of mine, I discovered a segment called “The Aging Brain” done by the US News and World Report that discussed the values presented in the activity theory of living. According to this theory, activity promotes life span. As this indeed supports the notion to exercise throughout life, the segment specifically mentioned how “new challenges” increase neural function in the brain due to dendrite production. The increase in dendrites promotes cell communication within the brain. Yet, these challenges included hobbies like painting, planting, singing in the chorus. Therefore, I believe cognitive activity can be just as important as physical activity. Again, I do agree that cardio is important and exercise is a definite avenue, but I think we should still consider all avenues as a holistic approach to brain health.
tumwineb says
February 13, 2013 at 4:50 amYes the post is changing aging
Madeleine Kolb says
February 7, 2013 at 11:10 amRight on, Dr. Power. My husband The Engineer is a long-time subject in a study of aging pilots at Stanford. The director often uses the same words–What’s good for the heart is good for the brain. Of course, it makes perfect sense because the brain needs oxygen and glucose and the other nutrients it gets from the blood supply.