Preventing Alzheimer's Disease—2 Activities You Can Start Today
Posted by Jim Kimzey on Fri, Apr 09, 2010
Reducing Alzheimer's Risk Through Computer Use and Exercise
A new study by the Mayo Clinic may point to important steps that individuals can take to reduce their risk of developing Alzheimer's disease. The study found that using a computer and engaging in physical exercise may help protect against mild cognitive impairment (MCI), a brain disorder that affects nerve cells important for thinking.
Individuals with MCI can function reasonably well in everyday activities, but they often have difficulty remembering critically important recent events and future engagements. Most (but not all) patients with MCI develop a progressive decline in their thinking abilities over time. Alzheimer's disease is usually the underlying cause.
“Our study found that engaging in physical exercise at any frequency, be it once a week or five times a week, and engaging in mental activities, computer use in particular, seem to have a joint effect in protecting against mild cognitive impairment. This means that when you add the benefit of physical exercise and the benefit of computer use together, the joint effect is more than the expected arithmetic sum,” says Yonas Endale Geda, M.D., a Mayo Clinic neuropsychiatrist and the study’s lead investigator.
As part of this study, Dr. Geda and a research team at the Mayo Clinic randomly identified 926 individuals with ages ranging from 70 to 90 years old. Of those, 109 had MCI, and 817 showed normal cognitive ability. The team conducted surveys to gather data on the individuals’ physical exercise, cognitive activities and caloric intake in the past year. After making adjustments for age, sex, education, depression, other medical issues and caloric intake, they found that any amount of moderate physical exercise (such as brisk walking) and any amount of computer use were separately linked to a reduced risk of MCI.
In previous studies, both physical exercise and cognitive activities (including using a computer) were separately found to help reduce the risk of MCI. In this new study, combining these two activities appears to be even more beneficial.
Other members of the Mayo Clinic research team included Rosebud Roberts, M.B., Ch.B; David Knopman, M.D.; Teresa Christianson; V. Shane Pankratz, Ph.D.; Bradley Boeve, M.D.; Eric Tangalos, M.D.; Robert Ivnik, Ph.D.; Walter Rocca, M.D.; and Ronald Petersen, M.D., Ph.D..
The results of this study will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology Annual Meeting in Toronto on April 15.
Video—Exercise and Computer Use May Prevent Cognitive Impairment
Photo courtesy of Ed Yourdon.