Ladies: Exercise Can Reverse Bad Behavior … Even Lying
Posted On July 24, 2011
Everyone knows that regular physical activity — even walking — is good for your brain, and can turn back the clock on your abilities.
A study this week included 2,809 women over the age of 65. They also had a history of heart disease or stroke, or at least three risk factors for those conditions.
In other words, they may not have been living the healthiest lives, since unhealthy cholesterol levels, high blood pressure and other conditions that affect blood-vessel health have been linked to the memory and language problems known as cognitive decline, which often precedes Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia.
More Active = Sharper Cognitively
The more active the women were, the better their performance on the test — even thought they may not have had the best habits in the past.
And they didn’t have to be freakish marathoners or iron (wo)man competitors. In fact, the most active women in the study, who were getting the equivalent of 30 minutes or more of brisk walking every day — that’s ALL — experienced much slower cognitive decline than those who got little or no exercise.
So Where Does Lying Fit Into This?
When asked your age, people can often hedge downward, with a -9 at the end. “I’m 29 or 39 or 49”, whatever. Well, according to these researchers, the impact on your brain and thinking ability amounted to being five to seven years younger, cognitively speaking.
So, when that hypothetical age slips out of your mouth … you won’t be SO far off!! And, you can mull over your rationalizations while you’re on your brisk 30-minute walk.
The message is now clearer than ever
“If you stay physically active, you’re buying protection for your brain,” says Eric B. Larson, M.D., the vice president for research at Group Health Cooperative, a nonprofit health-care system based in Seattle.
The studies appear in the July 25 print edition of the Archives of Internal Medicine and were published online today to coincide with the International Conference on Alzheimer’s Disease, taking place this week in Paris.
Exercise Is Key To Brain Health, Says Study
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