{"id":43009,"date":"2018-01-09T15:52:36","date_gmt":"2018-01-09T10:52:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tns.world\/?p=43009"},"modified":"2018-01-09T15:52:36","modified_gmt":"2018-01-09T10:52:36","slug":"twice-weekly-workouts-may-be-best-medicine-for-cognitive-decline","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tns.world\/?p=43009","title":{"rendered":"Twice-weekly workouts may be best medicine for cognitive decline"},"content":{"rendered":"

NEW YORK Jan 09 (TNS):<\/strong> There\u2019s little evidence that medications improve mild cognitive decline associated with aging, according to a new review of research, but doctors can recommend exercise with confidence.<\/p>\n

Researchers reviewed 11,530 studies of so-called mild cognitive impairment (MCI), to see how many older people are affected and which interventions and lifestyle changes have been shown to improve symptoms.<\/p>\n

MCI becomes increasingly common at older ages and is characterized by mild problems with thinking and memory that usually don\u2019t interfere with daily life or independent function. People diagnosed with MCI are more likely, however, to go on to develop Alzheimer\u2019s or other dementias than people without it.<\/p>\n

Until now, said Ronald Petersen, the lead author of the new study and American Academy of Neurology (AAN) treatment guidelines, \u201cClinicians didn\u2019t know what to do with these people. Now that we know that it\u2019s a burgeoning condition we need to pay attention when folks come in and complain.\u201d<\/p>\n

Petersen, who directs the Mayo Clinic Alzheimer\u2019s Disease Research Center in Rochester, Minnesota, and his coauthors found that between ages 60 and 64, 6.7 percent of people have MCI. In the 65-69 age group, that rises to 8.4 percent, and about 10 percent at ages 70-74, nearly 15 percent at 75-79 and just over 25 percent at ages 80 to 84.<\/p>\n

When they looked at the use of drugs, such as cholinesterase inhibitors, they found \u201cno high-quality evidence\u201d that the medications work, according to the report in the journal Neurology.<\/p>\n

Their analysis of studies looking at the effects of physical exercise on cognition did find a benefit, though. In one study involving 86 women with MCI, 70 to 80 years old, researchers found that twice-weekly resistance training for 26 weeks was more effective than aerobic training over the same time period at increasing what\u2019s known as executive functioning. After completing the exercise regimen, the women were better able to plan, manage and organize their thoughts.<\/p>\n

Based on their review, the authors updated a practice guideline for MCI to include, for the first time, a recommendation that people with the syndrome should exercise regularly as part of an overall approach to managing their symptoms.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a rich area of study. I don\u2019t think you can say that if you exercise 150 minutes a week you can push back cognitive decline a certain number of years,\u201d Petersen said in a telephone interview. \u201cWe don\u2019t know that for sure, but . . . physical exercise might be beneficial in slowing down the rate of cognitive decline since it has been shown to cause some stabilization or improvement of cognition.\u201d<\/p>\n

He thinks a combination of aerobic exercise and resistance training is likely best for MCI patients, but the data about its long-term effectiveness remains \u201cscant.\u201d He recommends that patients with MCI try to work up a sweat by walking briskly for 50 minutes, three times a week, because it might improve blood flow to the brain or induce enzymes to break down proteins that can build up into brain plaques.<\/p>\n

Neurology researchers are hoping to develop more specific evidence-based guidelines on how much exercise and what kind is needed to potentially delay or prevent cognitive decline based on ongoing clinical trials, he noted.<\/p>\n

The new AAN guideline, which is endorsed by the Alzheimer\u2019s Association, also urges clinicians to discuss with their MCI patients the diagnosis, prognosis, long-term planning and the lack of evidence that drugs and dietary options, such as vitamins E and C, homocysteine-lowering B vitamins and flavonoid-containing drinks, are at all effective.<\/p>\n

Petersen and his colleagues also analyzed five studies of brain-training interventions and found \u201cinsufficient evidence to support or refute the use of any individual cognitive intervention strategy.\u201d Nevertheless, they conclude that doctors may recommend this approach because it might improve specific cognitive skills.<\/p>\n

\u201cContinuing to be cognitively and physically active is paramount for overall brain health,\u201d noted Dr. Neelum T. Aggarwal of the Rush Alzheimer\u2019s Disease Center in Chicago, who wasn\u2019t involved in the review or guidelines.<\/p>\n

Some cases of MCI are associated with reversible causes of cognitive impairment, including medication side effects, sleep apnea, depression and other medical conditions, so it\u2019s important for patients to visit their healthcare provider at the first sign of memory problems, he said in a phone interview.<\/p>\n

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 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NEW YORK Jan 09 (TNS): There\u2019s little evidence that medications improve mild cognitive decline associated with aging, according to a new review of research, but doctors can recommend exercise with confidence. Researchers reviewed 11,530 studies of so-called mild cognitive impairment (MCI), to see how many older people are affected and which interventions and lifestyle changes […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":43010,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,488],"tags":[159,733],"class_list":["post-43009","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world","category-new-york","tag-new-york","tag-world"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tns.world\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43009","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tns.world\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tns.world\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tns.world\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tns.world\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=43009"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/tns.world\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43009\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":43011,"href":"https:\/\/tns.world\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43009\/revisions\/43011"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tns.world\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/43010"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tns.world\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=43009"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tns.world\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=43009"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tns.world\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=43009"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}