If the main issue is getting nutrition to the brain then what about a ketogenic diet to get seniors into ketosis so they can use fat for energy?
3
Remember the mice swam for an hour. As stated in the article, the exercise has to be intense:
"High-intensity exercise. Exercise is the best way to boost irisin levels in your body. But not just any exercise will do. In 2014, a study published in the Tohoku Journal of Experimental Medicine found that high-intensity exercise increases irisin levels more than low-intensity exercise. Examples of high-intensity exercise include running, high-intensity interval training and cycling."
@Susan R
this is not me who submitted this.
After battling sciatica for close to two years,this 82 year old man is back on the trails.Surgery did help but what really did it was my determination to get better by stretching and walking every day.A good glass wine with my evening meal doesn't hurt either.
7
Interesting reading, until that last line urging me to go for a walk. I’d love to, but it’s been way below zero here since Tuesday night, so all the Beagle and I can manage is a quick trip around the block. We’ll be back out there, though, once it gets above, say, 5 degrees.
3
I went cross-country skiing yesterday for about three hours and cleaned the snow on my parents' driveway for about an hour. The lower part of my body hurt including my back. I was also very tired but happy! Perhaps exercise releases the physical and mental tension that builds up from sitting around plus being in fresh air and seeing nature also help. Anytime I feel I need a brake and a reset I go hiking and nature seems to help a lot. If I walk around the city, it doesn't seem to have the same effect. Maybe we are not meant to sit all day under artificial lights. As far I know, we are supposed to be hunter-gatherers and nomads. Our current life style is probably working against what our bodies and minds were designed to do. As a result, we end up with a lot illnesses like diabetes, Alzheimer, dementia, depression, cancers, etc.
8
@Sick of politics We live in rural Maine, with no lights (outdoors), save stars & moon. and I can't imagine sleeping with lights on all night, such as in a retirement home in a nearby town.
2
You can't overestimate the value of consistent exercise for overall health, mentally and physically. It doesn't necessarily need to be intense exercise though. Eastern "Internal" arts offer an alternative to the frantic pace of most western approaches to exercise and health development. It's good to know there are alternatives. Tai Chi is one the best low-impact, moderate exercises you can do for all of the body's systems, including the immune system and helping with balance. I have found that the eastern arts such as Tai Chi and Qigong provide a simple and quick way to maintain my heath and energy levels as well keeping me fit. I have found some good tips and techniques here https://abundantpeace_b0cb.gr8 .com/
2
I am a 72 year old triathlete. When competing in the Michigan senior olympics I was surprised to see so many course monitors recording the number of laps completed in the bike segment of the triathlon. I asked an official if this was needed to deter cheating and was told that cheating wasn't the problem. The issue was that many seniors couldn't remember what lap they were on.
7
I started my dad walking when he retired at 70 and his doctor said his blood sugar was high. He religiously walked 2.5 miles every day at 11.
In his mid eighties, his hip hurt too much to walk and he spent most of his day sitting in his recliner.
Two weeks before my sister’s wedding on a beach, I came home to start training the old man. We went over to the neighbors’ pool and walked in the shallow end for 30-45 minutes. After two weeks his blood sugar was lower, memory better, hip didn’t hurt as much, slept better, and was more motivated to do things around the house. It was amazing what two weeks could do to so many aspects of his health. He had no problem at my sister’s beach wedding.
21
Life is motion. Incl. at the bio-molecular level - so even plants are in motion at some level.
5
As the Paper of 10 December 2018 of Turnwald and Colleagues on the effect of perceived genetic risk on outcome would indicate,mindsets and thoughts may have potent influence . Likewise, many other Papers , including some dealing with physical movements , have shown that thinking about doing something yield some of the effects of actually doing it . In this context , it might perhaps be interesting to try to find out whether imagining oneself exercising may not in itself lead to the production of irisin . Such mental activity in lieu of the actual physical counterpart could then be a useful substitute or at least a complement , to actual physical exercise on those occasions when elderly people are unable to effect the necessary physical exertions .
5
I just declined an invitation from my husband to walk. Instead, I sat at my breakfast table and read this article.
Oops!
20
And once the pharmaceutical companies get their hands on it, irisin will be affordable only to the rich in the US.
16
Okay, I’m going to put down my phone and go for a brisk walk. Bye!
10
@Tim Hunter And I'm going for a snorkel while we're on vacation in the USVI.
1
Let's not neglect the importance of exercising our minds while our body is at rest as well.
13
Interesting. Why do many people who don’t exercise not get Alzheimer’s?
Richard Overton , the Austinite who was our country’s oldest man until his recent death, rarely if ever exercised.
Genetics trumps all.
9
So for those of us who (for any number of reasons) are unable to engage in sufficient physical exercise, is anyone working on synthesizing irisin so that it can be taken as a supplement? I'm sure I'm not the only one interested in the answer (and NOT interested in condescending scolds)!
12
@Remy second to last paragraph
2
@Remy
Given that there are already many studies correlating exercise with improved human cognition (which could have been cited here if the point were actually just to correlate exercise to improved memory).
These researchers may be directly connected to the pharmaceuticals who hope to market irisin in the future.
1
This just in.
Its been revealed that because humans evolved to move, the lack of regular, often strenuous movement, is not healthy.
Can we come to grips with the reality that we know how humans can maintain reasonable health - and it always involves movement. We might have a lots of gaps in how we evolved, and why we evolved, why we evolved consciousness, etc. But the one thing we DO KNOW is that the human species, like all other species - evolved to move. And do so regularly, and strenuously when need be.
We are built to move. In mostly steady states. So its not hard to conclude, without science backup, that staying in a state of reasonable health and performance demands we ditch all the leisure or work pursuits that mean being still for long stretches of time. The human musculoskeletal system, need to go thru a full range of motion (ROM) often. And sitting and laying about all the time wreaks havoc on that system.
It also goes without saying that the brain and its system, is part of that musculoskeletal system. That the two compliment each other, rely on each other. Movement in the world means the brain and its "system" is also being activated. Is being taxed and made to adapt. Meaning the brain is being kept limber - or plastic, as the experts call it.
Movement is demanded of us. We choose not to at our own peril. Lack of regular movement is anti-human, anti-evolutionary. Even anti-creator if thats what you believe, as the creator purposely created us to move.
11
@Boregard
But why do you say we were meant to move? Maybe, aeons ago when our lives depended on it but, today, more and more, we are evolving to be sitters and thinkers. How many great fortunes were made or great inventions were created by people moving? No, they came about by people organizing, planning, thinking- and the best way to do that is to sit and think. Despite standing desks, sitting at a computer is the norm and is a vital part of modern life.
Sure, exercise is fun, feels good, and athletics are exciting but I think it's less likely an activity as sitting, talking, reading, especially as one matures. This is my opinion but seems pretty obvious. Of course, they'll always be small things that require movement and some jobs which are hard to automate but it looks, more and more, like our species is moving toward a society where we don't move at all!
2
Yes, we were made to move, to walk if nothing else. "Be first a good animal", Emerson wrote.
If every human emulated Charles Darwin and his sandpath -- he walked it twice every day, in every weather -- imagine all the transformative thinking that might occur, with nary a chair or computer in sight.
6
@Ron A
False. Every great thinker and inventor moved on a regular basis. They all speak about going out in nature, talking walks, hikes, clearing their heads, doing some chores, chopping wood for their fireplaces, etc. Einstein rode his bicycle. Not as an athlete, but to 1. Get around, 2. To move, clear his head. Edisons workshops were not places to sit around in. He was always moving...making, etc.
Even the Robber Barons engaged in regular physical activities...hunting, fishing, rode horses, etc. They all had homes in the country (of their day) so to get outside and move. Even if it was due to their arrogance.
You think all the desk jockeys in Corp USA are deep thinkers? Stop being silly. Thats not whats going on with the majority of the public.
FYI, the studies mentioned here and in thousands of other places - do say our lives, our quality of life depends on movement! What are you missing?
We are not evolving away from the demand to move. If sedentary was a viable path, why are there so many ailments related to it? Why do the inactive suffer so many ills of the musculoskeletal type?
Being active and being successful are not exclusive of each other. Nor does being active take away from ones intelligence, inventiveness or imagination. But it can be argued and proved scientifically, being inactive and sitting around - in a room, an office, etc - stunts all of those.
Add movement/exercise to any intellectual pursuit and you will see improvements.
9
Interesting! However, this is the statement that concerns me:
"But the animals that had been unable to create irisin did not benefit much from exercise."
7
Wait, you mean exercise is good for us? What's next, plenty of fruits and vegetables?
25
@Kim
Love your comment! Laughed for at least 3 min.
2
My wife’s aunt did all of these things, she lived to 101, but her mind was gone at age 95.
6
@Rich Murphy My mom has been doing these things for years but at 74 keeps asking me if I have any family. Alzheimer's is a horrible disease.
8
@Rich Murphy I am sorry for your loss. The study quoted stated "High-intensity exercise. Exercise is the best way to boost irisin levels in your body. But not just any exercise will do. In 2014, a study published in the Tohoku Journal of Experimental Medicine found that high-intensity exercise increases irisin levels more than low-intensity exercise. Examples of high-intensity exercise include running, high-intensity interval training and cycling." The exercise has to be high-intensity.
Another important aspect of this hormone is its effect on stem cells. it seems ,as we exercise, our muscles are signaled to produce more muscle cells which come from the many stem cells inside the muscles. As this signal is given the Irisin is produced and signals the stem cells to grow and mature. This same hormone also travels to the brain where it stimulates neuron stem cells. One of the reasons aerobic exercise important since it allows the Irisin to travel all over, not just the muscles. These are especially abundant in the hippocampus which is our memory center and affected by AD.
5
I am a physician in Reno. I have to use a lot of mental power when I start seeing patients at 8 am. I explain difficult imaging findings to patients which requires quite a bit of lingual agility. I have noticed on days I go to the gym in the morning, my word finding abilities are sharp and my vocabulary more robust as opposed to days I do not. I always thought this was due to vascular conditioning but maybe it’s due to irisin.
22
I would expect that is just a result of getting up earlier so that you can go to the gym, therefore your mind is working for a longer period than if you just get up and go to work
3
@Physician I agree with @Physician. I have been a programmer and creative writer most of my life (60+ years). In both cases, exercise has helped me be more alert, creative, logical, and aware. It clearly improves my thinking. This is such a reliable result for me that when I am stumped with something I will actively seek out exercise to help get past it. These days, the bulk of my creative ideas come when I'm out walking with my dog. The rest come after yoga or a workout at the gym.
9
@Physician
I agree with Physician. Think of Sudoku puzzles. I can complete one (same level of difficulty) in less time after aerobic dance class.
Use it or lose it...the classic adage. Add a holistic element, and the mind-body connection is clear and obvious.
Research like this is excellent. It confirms choices for some of us, and is probably ignored by the rest.
I exercise constantly through the day, moving and walking whenever possible, to supplement my morning gym. I also try and keep it unobtrusive, so that it does not conflict with the enjoyment of life, work and the company of friends and family. It seems to have worked so far...
6
having good genes is not a bad idea either.
my mother's side has three sisters who reached within two years of 100 (my mother turned 90 three days ago) and their mother had her wits about her until the last weekend of her life when she died at 108y3m after living in three different centuries.
i walk virtually every day a minimum of 5 1/2 miles except when it rains hard or when there's a snowstorm. in the milder weather it's 8-9 miles with about 6 in late morning and the rest after dinner.
i'm also 75 pounds lighter (162 now) than i was in late 2008.
haven't had a cold or flu for more than 20 years and get a flu shot every year.
discipline with diet and exercise, i'm sure, can't hurt when it comes to staying healthy tho cancer, alzheimer's, MS et al can happen no matter what your regimen.
20
What a hopeful article! Something you can do that doesn’t involve medication and is easily accomplished no matter where you are or how able you are!
I’m nearly 74. I try to walk every day for about 15 -20 minutes. Briskly! When I do errands I deliberately park far from the store entrance. And I take every opportunity to walk up and down stairs or down hallways. I also do stretching in the morning and i have some 5 lb weights for both arm exercises and leg exercise. (I’m no athelete by any means, but all my life I’ve tried to keep moving and stay in shape.)
I think my mind is in pretty good shape - with the exception of word-finding difficulty at times, which seems to happen more now than when I was younger.
If exercising will bathe my neurons in this protective Irisin, then I will do mine with increased optimism and vigor. And I’ll stick to the healthy eating I was brought up on and have continued all my life.
So far - so good.
P.S. The research shows that even people who have hardly exercised and are in their 70’s - 90’s can benefit greatly from starting a gentle exercise program and sticking with it! It’s also good for one’s mental health. And doing it outdoors in nature is especially helpful to your mental health.
Cheers!
15
I’m 70. A little over a year ago a PET scan confirmed that I have Alzheimer’s. Since then I have read everything I could get my hands on about this disease. The consensus appears to be that exercise, a healthy diet, avoidance of stress and getting adequate sleep are all key to avoiding or slowing its progress. In every questionnaire I have filled out in the treatment process, two questions stand out. They concern alcohol abuse and head trauma. I wrecked a car forty years ago while drunk and was in a coma for two weeks. Although I have now been sober fer 36 years and have run 35 marathons, the damage was done. But running continues to be my preferred way to exercise, meditate and reduce stress. And in sobering up I learned how to live one day at a time, an invaluable thing for dealing with this diagnosis.
81
@Dale Irwin My best wishes to you. Thanks you for your brave & helpful post!
26
Great post, just keep at it.
8
This article is accompanied by faces of my generation, but it is those now in their 30s and 40s who will likely face dementia at earlier stages of life. No one exercises anything but a thumb by sitting around all day (or standing on occasion) scrolling through a phone screen. I'm also a big believer in the power of face-to-face discussion, conversation, debate, exploration as a shield against declines of various sorts. Work everything as much as you can. Bodies were meant to be used to whatever degree we're able.
21
@hotGumption
Very nice idea, hotGumption.
I'm particularly impressed with your response to Deb, below. Not so often have I seen such a reply in the comments section. Yours to Deb is very genuine, astute and emotionally connected.
3
@hotGumption - I too am a big believer in those same things. I forgot to mention them in my post (no irony intended). My neurologist strongly suggested taking on some mentally challenging task. He smiled when I mentioned I was doing a frame-off rebuild of a ‘66 Airstream and asked if that would be what he had in mind.
6
So, another possible piece floats in the air... Dementia seems to be complex. For every factor which might indicate a way to prevent or stave it off (emphasis on 'might'), I can name people I know who did whatever (engaged in active brain activity or had lively social groups or exercised regularly or all of the above) who nonetheless developed Alzheimer's. We can do what we can, but it seems that there is no magic bullet.
33
Yup, take my husband for example, the avid bike rider, who was diagnosed with Alzheimer's at age 66. He did everything "right," too.
13
@Jane D:Jane, I understand the brain is not perfused directly by heart driven blood circulation, but intermediated through support cells bathed and cleansed by cerebral spinal fluid circulation driven by osmotic dynamics which can be disrupted even by "inert" molecular presences leading to supersaturation and precipitations, especially in shrinking brains. Something to do with that osmotic ventricular CSF flow yet to be discovered.
1
@Anne-Marie Hislop My mother could do the New York Times Crossword puzzle. She quilted which requires significant spatial skills. However, she had three surgeries in her late 50s and after the last one, her mind was not the same. She died of Alzheimer's at 70. The anesthesia brought it on.
1
Most Americans are too lazy to exercise period. Whether they get Alzheimer's disease or not will be a story in motion. Or non motion for the non exercisers.
4
So we need one more drug ; one to make you want to exercise ?
5
@Joseph Corcoran
No drug needed -- just initiative.
Passing thoughts on Exercise, the Brain, and Alzheimer's, in limn: 1. No question genes set lower and upper limits of lifespan, including onset and demise from Alzheimer's Disease (AD); 2. Common sense adage of "use it or lose it" remains axiomatic not only for muscles, but also our brain as we age; 3. The brain must and does increase its synaptic activity with all sorts of muscular activity; 4. Mental activity and cognitive function, in additition to physical exercise, also help in delaying and/or preventing AD.; 5. brain atrophy and muscle atrophy (sarcopenia) are consequences of aging and can be delayed by maintaining/increasing of both.
The above are just genral observations. Specific changes of amyloid, tau and build up of other protein debris remains to be explained.
9
I have ethical issues with experiments that mistreat animals in this way. I imagine the same information could be attained (over a much longer period of time) with long-term populations studies, that examine the brains of human volunteers after their natural deaths, and compare the levels of irisin in their brains in relation to their exercise frequency and signs of dementia exhibited. However questionable the methods, the results should encourage all of us to exercise more, in order to reduce our risks of dementia.
27
@Paul Smith
I too was upset by the treatment of the animals and felt it was rather archaic form of research, have we not progressed past tourturing animals?
11
I was wondering how they motivated those mice to swim for an hour a day...
What is your recommendation for those of us with crippling disabilities, who can barely walk to the bathroom with a cane or walker due to (age 26 at onset) arthritis? For those of us who have sought a magic bullet our entire adult lives only to end up bent, twisted and physically gnarled at 61? How very arrogant to presume exercise is merely a matter of choice. In mine—and many other cases—it is an impossibility. Like Stepen Hawking, our brain is still very much there and working—our bodies are ready for the salvage yard....
31
@Deb
I am very sorry for your disability. You may be aware of this already, but are you able to try water exercise classes, not aerobics, but classes for water walking or that are designed for people with arthritis. My own disability is much less, but in my water walking class each of us there precedes at his or her own pace. I realize not every community has a pool available ant that getting to one may be too difficult.
The pool I go to also has a class, staffed by volunteers, for people with much more serious disabilities
None of these is a substitute for being able to move freely, but they can help if they are appropriate and possible for you.
40
@Deb How about a table-top arm ergometer?
2
@Deb
Dear Deb,
You speak with very righteous outrage... a bow to that.
I am able to exercise but have at times read NYT articles that suggest, for instance, how my life would be so much better than it is had I remained married or some such study -- in which I'm an outlier. These things can make me wince.
So sorry to learn of your lengthy engagement with disability. You will already have explored possibilities for reducing your burden, such as water walking, mentioned here. So I won't presume to pile on suggestions. But I do send you very strong good wishes in navigating your journey.
You write with precision, passion and purpose. Consider using that somehow to reach others who suffer but lack your talent of expression. You sound like a motivator.
Cheers.
22
good news for humans.
Not so for the mice: "...In effect, they [scientists] gave the mice dementia."
Just a mouse. Or in some cases, just a cat. Or just a puppy. Or just a pig. Or, as has been the case in not so distant history, just a lesser-worth considered human...
How about investigating the effect on the human mind of living in constant cognitive dissonance? Modern humans know fully well how the medical treatment we benefit from often is the result of the suffering and death of other beings. We know fully well that the steak we enjoy comes from a cow (or cute calf) who was born, lived and died -- often in in horror -- on a factory "farm". We know these things, but we suppress it: that's the price of our modern society.
But as Jung or whoever said, whatever is suppressed comes back -- and stronger. Maybe dementia and other modern diseases are part-caused by this constant psychological trauma we experience? (An maybe that's why meditation, the simplest way of going beneath the superficial social construct of our minds, may have positive effects on such illnesses.)
As the late Peter Tosh sang so forcefully: You can run [read: be physical / be cultured / be studied /be traveled] but you can't hide [from the hellish images and inherent universal morals of your animal subconscious]
24
@Rune Average lifespan of a rodent is about 3 years. Results can be seen faster in such animals than is humans. Such sacrifices need to be made for progress until better tests can replace anumals.
18
@Rune
I will never cry over the death of mice if the result is saving human beings. Sorry, buddy, while the mouse may seem to you as part of a biological continuum to a human being, there is a difference between the value of a mouse and a person.
2
Moderate exercise is good and can't hurt.
However either extreme, ie, being a couch potato or running marathons will have the opposite effect.
The former will offer you the best odds for living a longer life free from sickness and/or hospital stays for operations while the latter will all but assure it.
5
@Paul
I can't speak for anyone else but my times of training for and running marathons have been the happiest and healthiest for me. Last year, I had (7) 100-mile weeks, combining walking and running, and they were the best weeks of the year. Compare that to my last 7 weeks where I've had 10-mile weeks due to the cold outside and work. I'm feeling very slothful and overweight.
5
We were not designed for the couch.
We were built to move.
22
Irisin is also secreted in response to cold exposure--it drives thermogenesis. So in addition to exercise it would seem you can also stave off dementia by cold exposure. Come springtime I'll be back to swimming in Puget Sound with extra motivation!
Mark
19
@Mark Can you provide a link to document this? I hope this is true, but would like to see the evidence.
2
@Mark Cold induces shivering thermogenesis in observed form or on a subclinical level. This muscular activity is equivalent to exercise on a physiological level
5
@Christopher, it was published in the journal Cell Metabolism in 2014. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1550413114000692
2
I have a long time friend who is an ex live-in-boyfriend from 40 years ago. At 68, he is showing all the signs of dementia. He cannot remember HOW to even turn his phone on some days and he is having various delusions. However, he used to be a bit of a gym hound. Always fit since we lived together in our 20s. In the past two months NO exercise and his mental confusion has increased 100%. Coincident? I doubt it. I am reading a book called, "The End of Alzheimer". Mind blowing. It is never too soon or too late to improve brain health! Excuse me while I go do my daily hour of meditation before work! Bybthe way, meditation is also shown to improve memory. At nearly 61, I am sharp.
15
@A. Vargas testimonials are a start. They do not replace evidence based facts that can be universally reduplicated.
3
@A. Vargas:Whatever age you attain you sound like you achieved peak humanity and are sustaining full aliveness. Congrats, bon chance, and excelsior - A. Vargas.
The mice swam for an hour?
What's the human equivalent of an hour to a mouse?
Not questioning the premises here at all, just wondering exactly how much daily exercise a human would have to do to equal the mouse's hour regime.
22
@Georgia Raysman. Mouse lfespan is about 3 years. Humans are about 78.
Your point is well taken. The old adge " a mouse is not a man" is true.
7
Exercise improves the quality of life while you're alive. We will all die, and sometimes we will suffer the crummy side effects of our bodies living too long, but i'll take my chances by vigorously working out until my body tells me its had enough! At least i'll know I've done everything i can do to make my "golden years" less debilitating.
34
@robert I totally agree with you!
Exercise does not "prevent" Alzheimer's - it reduces the risk and/or delays its onset. My Dad was a avid backpacker, cyclist, and hiker well into his 70's, yet he developed Alzheimer's at 74 and lived for another 14 years, confused, angry and sad. There is a strong family history of dementia and I will continue to exercise strenuously to do what I can to delay my own descent into the dark abyss.
76
@Diane Hopefully Diane you will not inherit this awful disease. I worked my entire career as a paraprofessional in the mental health field including a psychiatric hospital and I have see many people with Alzheimer’s including coworkers with a strong family history of this illness and they did not develop this disease. I also have this worry because I have Alzheimer’s in my family but not my direct parent. I wish you all the best.
40
If only the past was lost. My father died at 90 with Alzheimer's. In the beginning, he would forget many details in the present. However, as the disease progressed, he primarily ruminated on past memories, pleasant and otherwise. His recollections and comments were often about his mother. Frequently, he would mistake my mother for his mom and cry. This was frustrating for my mother as she was his principal caretaker until near the end of life. He was usually sad. Especially, and often, prompted by music. He loved music so much but it overwhelmed him in the last stages of his days. I don't look forward to my turn. I am running as fast as I can.
61
My grandfather worked in the sweatshops until he was 80 and lived until her was 94. His mind was super sharp and he never exercised a day in his life. (And smoked a pipe for over 75 years).
It's mostly the luck of our genes. No?
49
@BSR
It's true regarding the role of genes but you say yourself your grandfather worked in a "sweatshop until he was 80." Maybe, like so many farmers and laborers who came before us he did not need to set aside time to "exercise" because his daily work supplied all he needed.
52
@BSR
Sounds like he exercised until he was 80.
33
@BSR
You can't use one isolated example to prove a universal principle.
2
I cannot speak to the science. But I power walk six days each week. Each session about forty minutes. I cannot prove it with scientific certainty but I do feel mentally sharper than ever. And I am a proud member of the NYT regular commenter club.
72
Thanks to TDL, I am posting a short response. At the end of the first paragraph, Gretchen Reynolds refers to "people whose pasts are fading." Oh, honey, no! It's not the past that fades. It's the present. I'm 81 and I can tell you this with some assurance.
65
@TDL My father is 87. He remembers his childhood and mine easily. Today and yesterday? Not so much...
15
@TDL
Agreed!
I think now, at nearly 74, that this wonderful ability to recall the distant past is a built-in way to keep putting your memories in perspective, in the process understanding and accepting yourself more and more.
I think it’s part of gaining wisdom, part of why we humans live so much longer beyond our reproductive years: to be able to pass along that wisdom to younger generations as well as put one’s life in perspective. In the process life becomes ever more joyful and one faces problems with wry humor, and finding the thought that the end of one’s life is coming with peace and calm.
6
@TheraP
Sincere thanks for your thoughts and perspective. I've been reading 100s of comments from numerous articles today, looking for something i guess, needing something too at this time in my life - have been conflicted about the past. Wonderful to find your jem to consider.
We have always known, anecdotally, that exercise helps most people. This study is a start to explain one facet of what we have observed. People who exercise regularly feel better which is a good thing in itself. I am not sure if a pharmaceutical form of irisin as a treatment for dementia is going to be the "magic cure" for dementia but going for a walk is good for the soul and that's enough for me.
75
@njbmd For those who are physically unable to “go for a walk?”
@Deb Consult someone who is familiar with your physical capabilities who can give you safe and professional advice as to some form of "exercise" that may be a good substitute for that "go for a walk". The key is to find something you like and can do.
7
@Deb Then find some other activity. Do whatever it takes.
2
Exercise is essential for health, and good for the body, which includes the brain.
This sentence- "In people, epidemiological research indicates that being physically active reduces the risk for Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias and may also slow disease progression" seems overblown. Can you cite the evidence that proves the connection?
My understanding is that it MIGHT help I do not know that it is proven. There is in fact, an entire alternative theory of dementia which suggests that infection may be the real trigger.
Making outsized claims for exercise leads to assumptions that someone is responsible for their Alzheimer's or other dementia because they didn't exercise enough while they could. It doesn't fit with my personal knowledge f those who were laid low by this.
It's interesting to know about the study; irritating to have it conflated with claims that exercise will save us all.
23
There's plenty of evidence, and its randomized trials, not "outsized claims". Here is a good review and meta-analysis:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3258000/
Exercise prevents dementia. One may not like the concept that dementia is preventable, but the scientific evidence in large cohorts of patients is clear.
29
R. Sarkar, I concur. I am 67, and both parents died with/from Alzheimer's. My mother's was early onset and was not repeated in any of her 3 children thus far, and we have lived without it for at least 10 years after her onset age in her late 50's. All 3 siblings are active physically and mentally although we have had other health issues that are hereditary (degenerative disk disease, arthritis, scoliosis for me.) None of us has dementia. I am extremely physically active to mitigate my pain issues and my brother is a regular fitness gym attendee, my sister an lover of tv exercise routines. i should add that my maternal grandmother acquired dementia in her early 90's and lived to 100 and my father had mild dementia but lived to 95
so we have some great genes in there as well.
9
@R. Sarkar My grandmother developed Alzheimers and she walked briskly every day. Even when she became ill - she tried to find her father's house. She was always the same slender dress size her whole adult life, didn't smoke, drank very little and ate quite well (maybe too much red meat but at least portions were very small). There is so much unknown - there really is a genetic lottery, Maybe her brain couldn't make irisin?
7
These studies and reports affirming the wonderfully healthful effects of exercise are a source of inspiration for my family and various acquaintances and I make sure to send them along and talk about them.
I am so grateful for exercise.
22
This is the kind of "hopeful' study that generates grants for "Principal Investigator," but after several years of replicated and even finally extended studies on human subjects, under strict random controlled double blind protocols, silently slips into the no man's land pile of forgotten , unpanned out hypothesis. Long before discovery of "irisin,"athletes have aged and fallen into dementia much the same as the general population.
9
Randomized studies show that exercise prevents dementia. This has been known for years. This article gives us insight into the molecular mechanism.
Here is a good review and meta-analysis:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3258000/
Exercise prevents dementia. One may not like the concept that dementia is preventable, but the scientific evidence in large cohorts of patients is clear.
15
@ee mann The details and credibility of various studies may vary wildly, but the preponderance of evidence indicates that exercise is beneficial to cognitive as well as physical and emotional health. No one should sit on the couch waiting for a definitive study or a 100 percent success rate of a particular regimen.
31
@R. Sarkarthere are different kinds of dementia. Exercise may prevent it in some people but I’m guessing that there are many (like my mother) who after years of good diet, walking every day and no smoking or drinking, developed dementia and spent the last 10 years of their life with no short term memory. ( and I don’t mean occasional forgetfulness) I mean full blown dementia. I have always wondered if living with second hand smoke her whole life could have been a major factor. I just know that I spent years losing my mother. I hope my children and I are a bit luckier. I personally think it’s still mostly a crapshoot.
13
My mom passed away from Alzheimer's at 94, and she played golf, or at least hit golf balls at a driving range, until she was 92! I'm convinced that her longevity was due, at least in part, to her exercise routine. When she once slipped of a chair, and my husband and I couldn't get her up, we called the paramedics for help. One of them commented on how strong she was. She said, "I play a lot of golf, " and he looked at me and I nodded in the affirmative, and then she said that she had even gotten a hole in one once, and I again nodded, "Yes." She then told him that she had even played golf with Tiger Woods, and I shook my head, "No." (That was one of her Alzheimer's induced illusions and delusions.) I even wrote about our trials in a book called, "My Mother Has Alzheimer's and My Dog Has Tapeworms: A Caregiver's Tale." Time for my daily walk...
76
@R Lynn Barnett
I love the Tiger Woods part of the story! Precious.
This was a woman to be admired.
9
To R Lynn Barnett: what a charming memory! Truly adorable. I’ll look for your memoir.
2