A new study indicates that resistance-based exercise can be preventive for Alzheimer’s disease — or at least delay symptoms of it. While the Frontiers in Neuroscience study was conducted in mice, it adds to the research about the preventive possibilities of exercise on the disease.
The research team trained mice to exercise up a ladder carrying weight on their tails. The animals had a mutation known to allow beta-amyloid plaques to accumulate in the brain — a suspected cause of Alzheimer’s disease.
After four weeks of training, they checked the mice’s corticosterone levels (a hormone in mice that’s like cortisol in us). Higher levels may raise the risk for developing Alzheimer’s disease. The levels were normal in mice who exercised compared to those without the mutation. Their brains showed a decrease in beta-amyloid plaques.
“This confirms that physical activity can reverse neuropathological alterations that cause clinical symptoms of the disease,” said Henrique Correia Campos, one of the study’s authors.
The researchers say resistance exercise continues to be effective to avoid symptoms of sporadic Alzheimer’s (not caused by a genetic mutation). The team thinks this is because the movements have anti-inflammatory effects in the body.
Other studies have looked at exercise’s preventive effects in regards to the disease. Some have studied how it can help people who have the disease.
Resistance training can work for any age and be modified for varied abilities. It can improve posture and balance, and can help prevent falls. You can do it with weights, your own body weight or stretchy bands; that’s what makes it appealing and applicable for so many older adults.