Physical Activity is Good for Your Brain and Helps Prevent DementiasteemCreated with Sketch.

in #health7 years ago (edited)

Aerobic exercise is known to be good for our brains. It helps improve neuronal plasticity and stimulates the creation of new neurons (neurogenesis). A decade ago this was just coming out, but it's been confirmed more since then. Exercise is the new preventative medicine against cognitive impairment and dementia from old age, like a "miracle-grow" for the brain.

Physical exercise not only can benefit the metabolism of our bodies, but it also affects the energy metabolism of our brain. New research published in Translational Psychiatry involved 60 participants in a SMART study (Sport and Metabolism in Older Persons). They were all examined before and after a 12 week period of 30-minute training-sessions 3 times per week.

At the end, researchers were able to see how much of an effect physical activity had on brain metabolism, in addition to how it affected their overall physical fitness levels. As expected, physical exercise helps improve cardiac efficiency, and it also has an effect in protecting brain cells. 30 minutes of moderate-intensity activity 3x/week will prevents an increase in cerebral choline levels in the brain, whereas the control group that didn't exercise had choline levels increase. Choline levels keep increasing as we get older and it has been linked to the loss of brain functions, such as those associated with dementia and Alzheimer's Disease.

I've noticed many breakthroughs this year in Alzheimer's. If you weren't aware, here is some of the research that has come out this year. Science is making progress in learning about how brain diseases work, making solutions or cures that much more possible. There are genes that have been linked to the disease, as well as sleep disorders.

And that's only for July and June 2017, plus there are some that I didn't add from this one site that related to Alzheimer's, like the recent study on pollutants in our cars while in traffic being 2x higher than the road-side testers indicated. This pollution puts oxidative stress which is thought to play a role in many diseases like Asperger's syndrome, ADHD, cancer, Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, atherosclerosis, heart failure and heart attack, sickle cell disease, autism, infection, chronic fatigue syndrome and depression.

There seems to be a lot more scientific interest in Alzheimer's and neurodegenerative brain diseases this year. I hope it keeps up and we can find a way to remove this brain-death from humanity. Don't underestimate the power of exercise for both the body and mind. Move each day until you die :)

I have to admit I'm not much of an exerciser. I rollerblade places, and do some weights now and then, and use my exercise bike a bit. But I should really get into it more.

How are you on exercise?
Do you know you need to do it more but put it off?
Are you a couch potato or exercise champion?


Thank you for your time and attention. Peace.


References:
https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-athletes-way/201707/one-more-reason-aerobic-exercise-is-so-good-your-brain
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/07/170721090107.htm
https://www.nature.com/tp/journal/v7/n7/full/tp2017135a.html


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Nice post! Exercise is known to increase BDNF (brain-derived neurotrophic factor) which helps encourage the growth and differentiation of new neurons and synapses. This have a protective effect on the ageing brain. I used to exercise a lot before, but lately I have been somewhat lazy:)
I do not think that the oldest and wisest people in the world exercised a lot.

Maybe they would be healthier in body strength and movement if they did ;)

i want to share my experience in this post that i was not exercising till last year and i was so lazy in the office time during the whole day and my mood was always hard and i was fighting with every one in short you can say i was just a beast by my mentel level and lazy by my physical condition, but you can not imagine fro the 6 months i daily wake up early in the morning and i perform my yoga for 1 hour continuosly in my lawn , and than i go to my office you can not imagine now my productivity in more than my expections over the 6 months and im now friendly with every one automatically and i always stay in a good and romantic mood with all and sopecially with my husand by lloking at your post i can say easily that yes you are right execise is good for our mental and physical health , thanks for pointing this issue on steemit , keep it up

Great to hear! Glad it has proven to totally change your life for the better. Good story for others to learn from :) Thanks for the feedback.

pleasure is mine dear same to you

Nice article, unfortunately I dont exercise a lot. There is no excuse for that. I am always saying that i will and for years is not happening. I know all benefits of exercise and still not doing it. Need some motivation or something else to get me started . Maybe you can do post about how to get people out to exercise. It is just idea:) Thank you for your post at least made me think about how wrong i am doing with my life.

Eek... I'm not the best either. I need purpose, like I need to go somewhere, so I rollerblade there. If there is no greater purpose than just exercising... I'm not too interested lol. It's boring :P

;) Always good to hear other people experiences , sometimes you motivate other people without knowing it. I promise I will let you know if I change my state of mind and if I start doing something. I am preparing myself for summer vacations, hope to do some swimming with my kids.

Personally, I combat dementia by watching sports on TV... I know, I know, it can be exhausting, but I'm willing to make the extra effort. Actually, my routine is walking the dog in the morning (about a mile or so) then writing for several hours. I think one cause of dementia is lack of mental stimulation. The brain is like any other muscle- if you don't use it, it atrophies. (and I know the brain isn't a muscle)

Yeah, but many might think it's just mental "exercise" and use, but the physical is important too, more than we might think ;)

That's why the hound walks me every day!

It shouldn't be surprising to us that so many "old age" illnesses are at least in part prevented by good habits in our younger life. We were built to move. I don't blame all the people working these crazy long hours stuck behind desks for feeling too tired at the end of the day, but it's so important for our future health to make the effort.

I've always been a bit of an indoorsy type but I have a big labrador who needs a lot of exercise so I usually spend 2 hours plus a day hillwalking/hiking with him. I also love skating, I was more of a quads roller skate person up until I quit roller derby, but inline skates are so much more versatile, quads are really useless for outdoors even with the softest of wheels. But I live in Scotland so that's weather dependent! I also do yoga, which I know many people don't consider "real" exercise but I always feel an body and mind boost after I do it and it has improved m strength and flexibility no end.

Great job, 2 hours of hiking or hilwalking, good stuff. Yoga is good, despite not being intense for muscle, it's good for exercise. Thanks for the feedback.

Good post.

Every day we need to consume foods rich in vitamins and minerals (fish, flaxseeds, olive oil, nuts, seeds etc.) for the proper development of cognitive processes.

Besides eating, as you said, exercises that stimulate cognitive function are very important. If we do not accord importance for these things, in time, our memory loses information, so we have to read more for stimulating memory and concentration.

I try to run 5 miles a day, 5 days a week. This hits the sweet spot of being invigorating rather than over-taxing. Every time I try to do more miles than this, either I injure myself or lose interest.

I've tried weights, aerobics, and yoga, and swimming. But for some reason running is the only thing that gives me the endorphin rush I need.

Wow, great job! Keep that up! Not hard on the knees?

So far so good, knock on wood. But I have injured my hip flexor a couple of times, and it always sets me back for months. That's why I'll probably never train for a marathon. That's all right, though.

Very interesting topic! I appreciated your research links! I wonder what the studies would show on a more longitudinal study. It would be interesting to see if there is a correlation between active and sedentary children. That could be a great way to promote brain health from an early age, along with combating the huge obstacle of childhood obesity. The earlier we humans can make habits, the better right? My preferred form of exercise is Zumba, I highly recommend it to anyone who like to get their groove on. Thanks again for bringing attention to this important topic :)

Hehe, seems like Dance Dance Revolution in real life.

I should excerise more, while I love walking which is a great form of excerise I admit it is not very strenuous.
Thanks to my dog for motivating me to walk.

There are TV channels with 30 minute exercises too. Try out anything. Maybe yoga hehe.