Walking can decrease the risk for Alzheimer's
(a mile each day)
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As the population here in Syracuse and across the United States ages there is widening interest in how to naturally avoid Alzheimer's disease. Natasha Allen has written forMyHealthNewsDaily, http://www.myhealthnewsdaily.com, "One Way to Ward Off Alzheimer's: Take a Hike".
Allen has reported that a new study suggests that walking about a mile a day can increase the size of your gray matter, and greatly decrease the chances of developing Alzheimer's disease or dementia in older adults. Study author Kirk Erickson, an assistant professor of psychology at the University of Pittsburgh, has said "This is the first study that really looked over a several-year span and was able to assess this." It was discovered in Erickson's study that walking at least one mile per day significantly enhanced the volume of several regions of the brain, including the frontal lobe, which is involved in reasoning and problem-solving. The researchers for this study also found people who walked that distance reduced their risk of cognitive impairment by about fifty percent.
However, it was found that walking more than one mile every day did not further improve brain volume. Erickson said that gray matter shrinks as adults age, which increases the potential for cognitive impairment and raises the risk of Alzheimer's disease and dementia. According to the National Institute on Aging approximately 5.1 million Americans may have Alzheimer's disease. Erickson also said previous studies by University of Illinois researchers have examined the effects of physical activity on brain function in the elderly over shorter time spans, from six months to one year. However, in this study, the participants were evaluated based on an initial measurement of walking, and then followed up for 13 years. Read more: examiner.com
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