Scientists have identified a form of exercise that can help prevent Alzheimer’s disease.
The new study carried out on mice led to the findings that regular resistance training can help prevent or at least delay the onset of symptoms for the age-related neurological condition. It could also lead to affordable therapies for people at risk of the disease.
Although dementia patients are unlikely to go on long daily runs or perform other high-intensity aerobic exercises, researchers, including those form the Federal University of São Paulo in Brazil, said these activities happen to be the focus of most scientific studies on Alzheimer’s.
On the other hand, strength training, which comprises contraction of specific muscles against an external resistance, is seen as the best option to train balance, improve posture and prevent falls.
It has been shown to increase muscle mass, strength and bone density, as well as improve overall balance and muscle loss.
In the new study, published recently in the journal Frontiers in Neuroscience, scientists assessed the ability of resistance training to protect the nervous system.
They conducted experiments involving genetically modified mice carrying a mutation responsible for a buildup of beta-amyloid plaques in the brain – a key hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease.
The protein accumulates in the body’s central nervous system, damaging nerves and impairing the connections between them, all of which are features of Alzheimer’s disease.
In the research, scientists trained mice to climb a 110cm ladder with a slope of 80 degrees and 2cm between rungs.
Loads corresponding to 75 per cent, 90 per cent and 100 per cent of the mice’s body weight were attached to their tails – mimicking the kinds of resistance training undertaken by humans at gyms.
After four weeks of training this way the stress hormone cortisol in humans.
Vishwam Sankaran