Two reports in the January issue of Archives of Neurology show strong proof that participating in moderate exercise on a daily basis reduces the risk of cognitive impairment in those who have reached mid-life and older. In addition, the studies suggest that those already afflicted with some degree of cognitive impairment show improvement after particpating in six months of high-intensity aerobic exercise.
Researchers at Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota as well as the University of Washington School of Medicine and Veterans Affairs Puget Sound Health Care System, Seattle, shared similar results in controlled clinical trials involving adults both with mild cognitive impairment as well as those who did not yet exhibit any problems in the brain functions of thinking, planning, organizing, learning and memorization.
Those who participated in such moderate exercise routines as swimming, walking briskly, yoga, aerobics and strength training while in midlife years or even much later were found to have as much as a 39 percent reduction in the odds of developing dementia or other cognitive impairments. Yet another test group that included seniors already suffering from cognitive impairment such as dementia, experienced improved cognitive functioning after participating in high-intensity aerobic exercise under the supervision of a physical trainer for an hour a day for four day a week.
