A study by the State University of Campinas (UNICAMP) in Brazil reveals that weight training can protect elderly adults from dementia. Researchers found that strength training improved memory and altered brain anatomy in individuals with mild cognitive impairment. This breakthrough suggests incorporating weight lifting in public health systems as an affordable, effective method to combat dementia and improve cognitive health.
Aging is an inevitable part of life. While, there is nothing odd about aging, being healthy as you step ahead is crucial. That’s why focusing on nutritional diets and engaging in daily workouts is important. One of the biggest challenges elderly adults struggle with as they age is dementia. Along with affecting memory, thinking, and reasoning, this condition is severe enough to interfere with daily life. How to beat this? Lift weights. Yes, a breakthrough study has recently found that exercise helps with reducing dementia in the elderly.
A recent study conducted at the State University of Campinas (UNICAMP) in São Paulo, Brazil, suggests that weight training may help protect older adults from dementia. The findings, published in the journal GeroScience, indicate that strength training can improve memory and alter brain anatomy in individuals with mild cognitive impairment (MCI).
To study the effects of exercise on the elderly, the researchers looked at 44 people with mild cognitive impairment, an intermediate clinical condition between normal aging and Alzheimer’s disease in which cognitive decline is greater than expected for age, indicating a higher risk of dementia. They found that strength training not only improved memory performance but also altered brain anatomy.
After six months of weight training (twice weekly), the participants showed protection against atrophy in the hippocampus and precuneusm which are brain areas associated with Alzheimer’s disease. They also found mprovements in parameters that reflect the health of neurons (white matter integrity).
“We already knew that there would be a physical improvement. Cognitive improvement was also imagined, but we wanted to see the effect of weight training on the brains of older people with mild cognitive impairment. The study showed that, fortunately, weight training is a strong ally against dementia, even for people who are already at high risk of developing it,” Isadora Ribeiro, a FAPESP doctoral fellowship recipient and lead author said in a statement.
This research is the first to examine the impact of weight training on the white matter integrity of individuals with MCI.
The researchers also carried out neuropsychological tests, and MRI scans on the participants, at the beginning and end of the study, as these results are crucial as they indicate the need to include more physical educators in the public health system at the primary health care level since increased muscle strength is associated with a reduced risk of dementia. “It’s a less complex and cheaper treatment that can protect people from serious diseases,” Marcio Balthazar, BRAINN researcher and study supervisor said.
“For example, the new anti-amyloid drugs approved in the United States indicated for the treatment of dementia and for people with mild cognitive impairment, cost around USD 30,000 a year. That’s a very high cost. These non-pharmacological measures, as we’ve shown is the case with weight training, are effective, not only in preventing dementia but also in improving mild cognitive impairment,” the researcher added.
Well, you have one more reason to lift weights now.