Study: Exercise may reduce Alzheimer's risk

April 28, 1998
Web posted at: 11:10 p.m. EDT (0310 GMT)

CLEVELAND (CNN) -- A study released Tuesday shows that regular exercise may reduce the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease.

Researchers found that those who exercised regularly throughout life were less likely to have contracted the brain-deteriorating disease than those who were inactive.

The study examined the long-term exercise habits of 373 people -- 126 with Alzheimer's and 247 healthy people. It was conducted by Dr. Arthur Smith and Dr. Robert Friedland, both neurologists from the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine and University Hospitals of Cleveland.

"We found that patients with Alzheimer's disease had lower levels of physical activity earlier in life," Friedland said.

But the doctors cautioned that exercise does not guarantee immunity from the disease, which is most common in people past age 65.

"We believe this is one out of many risk factors. ... We don't think it will prevent the disease," Friedland said.

For example, former President Ronald Reagan, perhaps the best-known Alzheimer's patient, by all accounts led a very active life.

"In President Reagan's case, it's possible that the disease would have had an earlier onset if he had not had such an active lifestyle," Friedland said.

In the study, healthy participants were asked to fill out a questionnaire detailing their exercise habits from ages 20 to 59. Spouses or other relatives who had close, long-term relationships with Alzheimer's patients evaluated their exercise habits.

An exercise score was arrived at by multiplying the number of hours an individual exercised every month by a rating the doctors assigned each sport based on its intensity.

Doctors cautioned that exercise won't cure Alzheimer's, an irreversible neurological disorder that destroys brain cells. But a steady exercise regime seems to lower the risk of developing the disease, although quantifying just how much was not possible based on the study, Smith said.

But Dr. Walter Koroshetz, a neurologist at Massachusetts General Hospital and a spokesman for the American Academy of Neurology, said the study seems to have made a legitimate finding.

"The point is exercise does a lot of things hormonally and biochemically for you and it may be good for your brain as well as your heart," he said.

Medical Correspondent Al Hinman and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Related stories:

• Study says blacks, Hispanics more likely to get Alzheimer's - March 10, 1998
• Study: 'Memory herb' helped some Alzheimer's patients - October 21, 1997
• Ginkgo biloba touted as herb for the absent-minded - February 12, 1997
• Study: Strokes may heighten risk of Alzheimer's - March 12, 1997
• Researchers hail possible breakthrough in Alzheimer's disease - June 26, 1997

Related sites:

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• Case Western Reserve University - School of Medicine
• American Academy of Neurology
• Alzheimers.com

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