By this point, everyone knows that exercise is good for you. It’s good for the young, the old, the healthy, the sick, the disabled—everyone. Most people, if you ask them, will spout off a number of reasons why exercise is good for you, ranging from weight loss to reducing the risk of certain chronic diseases. What people usually don’t mention are the benefits that regular physical activity can have on the mind, not just the body.
Exercise can provide numerous mental benefits, including improving information processing and memory functions, and facilitating the growth of brain cells. These benefits extend to dementia patients. For readers who have dealt with family members with dementia, there are few things more heartbreaking than watching a beloved family member slowly disappear before your eyes—present in body, but not in mind.
As of this writing, dementia cannot be cured. There are some medical or therapeutic interventions that can help delay or lesson the symptoms of some forms of dementia.
New research suggests that more movement is connected with less cognitive decline, even if there was evidence of brain deterioration revealed in the autopsy. The study followed 454 older people without known dementia. Participants wore activity trackers continuously for about seven days to measure daily physical activity. While more active people still showed signs of dementia-related type brain deterioration, they experienced less cognitive decline than less-active people.
