A recent study says that an active lifestyle helps to preserve the grey matter in the brain and lower the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease and dementia. Over 35 million people around the world suffer from dementia, with those numbers expected to at least double before 2030, says data released by the World Health Organization. The most common cause behind dementia is Alzheimer’s disease and that is incurable.
An important marker for brain health is the volume of grey matter. Grey matter volume that is larger means the brain is healthier. In those with Alzheimer’s the volume of grey matter is shrinking, said a resident of radiology at UCLA, Cyrus Raji, who performed the study.
Raji and a team of other researchers studied over 875 adults whose average age was 78. The group was taken from a Cardiovascular Health Study. Conditions of the patients ranged from those having normal cognition to those with Alzheimer’s dementia.
A number of lifestyle factors were taken into account and included gardening, recreational sports, bicycling, dancing and yard work.
Nearly all of the activities that included physical movement that were in the study were a variation of aerobic activity, which is known to improve the blood flow in the brain and strengthen the brain cell connections.
