Middle-aged exercise blocks Alzheimer’s brain

According to groundbreaking research, middle-aged adults may significantly reduce their risk of Alzheimer’s disease, which provides compelling evidence as a preventive strategy to prevent cognitive decline.

The four-year study, published in Alzheimer’s and Dementia, found that people who started exercising advice with the World Health Organization (WHO) showed lower levels of beta-amyloid, a protein associated with Alzheimer’s, associated with people who became less active during the same period.

Researchers from the Institute of Global Health in Barcelona (Isglobal) and the βeta Brain Research Centre (BBRC) examined 337 middle-aged adults with a family history of Alzheimer’s disease, providing a unique window into our lifestyle changes in the 1940s and 1950s, with typical symptoms typical of decades in our 1940s and 1950s.

“We conducted a four-year follow-up of middle-aged residents in Catalonia and had a family history of Alzheimer’s disease,” explained Müge Akıncı, PhD researcher at Isglobal, who was also the first author of the BBRC at the time of the study. “We used a physical activity questionnaire to assess changes in activity over four years and conducted neuroimaging tests to analyze the effects of exercise on brain structure and function.”

The results show that the dose-dependent relationship – the more physical exercise participants have, the greater the reduction in amyloid accumulation in the brain. This suggests that gradually adding more exercise in routine may provide greater protection for the disease.

Perhaps most striking is that even participants who do not fully meet their advice can perform moderate activity of 150-300 minutes or vigorous activity per week, but can also show benefits compared to those who remain completely sedentary.

“Even those who do less physical exercise than recommended have a larger cortex thickness than those who sit for a long time, which shows that any exercise, no matter how small, has a health benefit,” Akıncı noted.

The study uses complex brain imaging techniques to measure amyloid accumulation and cortical thickness in brain regions, which are often affected early in Alzheimer’s disease. The sparse cortex of the medial time zone (critical for memory function) is considered an early sign of neurodegeneration.

The research team divided participants into five groups: people who remained sedentary throughout the study, those who maintained underactive levels, those who always met advice, those who became less active, and those who increased their activities to meet advice.

Dr. Eider Arenaza-Urquijo, Isglobal researcher and lead investigator of the study, highlighted the significance of public health: “These findings reinforce the importance of promoting physical exercise in middle age as a public health strategy for Alzheimer’s disease prevention. Interventions aimed at promoting physical activity, promoting the importance of promoting activity may be key to reducing future disease diseases.

According to previous studies mentioned in the study, the results have special significance given that approximately 13% of Alzheimer’s disease cases worldwide may be attributed to physical inactivity.

Although the exact mechanism by which exercise can prevent Alzheimer’s disease is still under study, the researchers’ findings suggest that physical activity may directly affect the production or clearance of beta-amyloid from the brain, regardless of its known benefits to cardiovascular and mental health.

This study, based on growing evidence, suggests that middle age (between 45 and 65 years of age) is a key window during which lifestyle interventions may have the greatest impact on preventing or delaying the onset of Alzheimer’s disease.

For those who care about brain health, the study provides one viable message: Being more active in middle age, even from scratch, can protect some of the earliest brain changes associated with Alzheimer’s disease.

The rate of Alzheimer’s is expected to rise dramatically over the next few decades as the global population continues to age, and these findings suggest that increased physical exercise levels in middle-aged adults can represent one of the easiest and cost-effective strategies that can be used to reduce the burden of dementia in the future.