This has been shown on numerous occasions there are activities that benefit health of people in various aspects such as improving balance and flexibility, strengthening bones, keeping weight under control, protecting joints and even improving memory performance
Now a study suggests that Including resistance exercises in the sports routine helps prevent – or at least delay – the onset of Alzheimer's ; a simple and affordable treatment for patients. This is how an article published in ‘ ‘ by Brazilian researchers affiliated Federal University of São Paulo (UNIFESP) Anyway University of São Paulo (USP)
It is unlikely elderly people and dementia patients are able to run long runs or perform other high-intensity aerobic exercises. However, This activity has been under investigation for a long time. for most scientific studies on Alzheimer's.
To observe neuroprotective effects of this practice carried out by researchers from the Department of Physiology and Psychobiology at UNIFESP and the Department of Biochemistry at the Department of Chemistry at USP (IQ-USP), experiments with transgenic mice with a mutation responsible for the accumulation of beta-amyloid plaques in the brain. This protein accumulates in the central nervous system, impairs synaptic connections and damages neurons all of which are hallmarks of Alzheimer's.
Mice climbing stairs with charges on their tails
During the study, funded by FAPESP, mice were trained to climb a ladder of 110 cm with an inclination of 80º and 2 cm between the steps, with loads on the tails corresponding to 75, 90 and 100 percent of their body weight. The experiment was about im perform certain forms of resistance training as we humans could do in gyms.
After a period of four weeks blood samples were taken to measure plasma corticosterone levels -the mouse hormone corresponding to cortisol in humans-. Increased levels in response to stress increase the risk of developing the disease of Alzheimer's.
Hormone levels were normal in exercise-trained mice (same as those found in the control group of animals without the mutation), and analysis of their brain tissue showed a reduced formation of beta-amyloid plaques . “This confirms it physical activity can reverse the neuropathological changes that cause the clinical symptoms of the disease”, confirms the article's first author, Henrique Correia Campos
“Also we observe the behavior of animals to assess their anxiety in the open field test -which measures the avoidance of the central area of a box, the area that causes the most stress – and we discovered that resistance exercise reduced hyperlocality at levels similar to controls among mice with the Alzheimer-associated phenotype”, has pointed out the first author and researcher at the IQ-USP Neurosciences Laboratory, Deidiane Elisa Ribero
Agitation, restlessness and wandering are common early symptoms of this and other types of dementia. “Resistance exercises are proving more and more like an effective strategy to prevent the onset of sporadic Alzheimer's symptoms not directly caused by a single inherited genetic mutation, which is multifactorial and may be associated with aging, or for delay its onset in familial Alzheimer's . The main possible reason for this effectiveness is anti-inflammatory effect resistance exercise”, confirms the last author of the article, Beatriz Monteiro Longo
Stimulate the creation of public policies
The study was based on a literature review published in ‘Frontiers in Neuroscience', where the same UNIFESP group gathered clinical evidence that the benefits of resistance exercise include positive effects on cognitive dysfunction, memory loss and behavioral problems in patients with Alzheimer's and concludes that it may be an affordable alternative or complementary therapy
“Alzheimer's doesn't just affect the patient. It affects the whole family especially in low-income households,” says Caroline Vieira Azevedo , first author of the review article and postgraduate student at UNIFESP. In this way, it encourages the use of both articles for stimulate the creation of public policies : “Imagine the cost savings if the onset of symptoms in older patients is delayed for ten years.”
Resistance exercises are one of four types of exercise, along with those of strength, balance and flexibility , which is specified. Those of resistance can consist of walk briskly, run, dance, cycle or climb stairs . World Health Organization ( WHO ) recommends resistance exercise such as best option to train balance, improve posture and prevent falls
It is an education whose purpose is do your best as long as possible , so that aerobic and anaerobic resistance can be achieved. Resistance exercise involves contraction of specific muscles against external resistance and is considered an essential strategy for increase muscle mass, strength and bone density as well as for improve overall body composition, functional capacity and balance . That helps too prevent or alleviate sarcopenia (muscular atrophy), which facilitates the performance of daily tasks.