Brisk 30 minute daily walk halts cognitive impairment

Two studies have indicatedthat engaging in regular physical activity
is associated with a lesser decline in cognitive function in older
adults.
In one article, Marie-Noel Vercambre, from the Foundation of Public
Health, Mutuelle Generale de l'Education Nationale, Paris, and
colleagues examined data from the Women's Antioxidant Cardiovascular
Study, which included women who had either prevalent vascular disease
or three ormore coronary risk factors.
The researchers analyzed data to correlate cognitive score changes
with total physical activity and energy expenditure from walking. As
the participants' energy expenditure increased, the rate of cognitive
decline decreased. The amount of exercise equivalent to a brisk,
30-minute walk every day was associated with lower risk of
cognitiveimpairment.
In another report, Laura E. Middleton, from the Heart and Stroke
Foundation Centre for Stroke Recovery, Sunnybrook Research Institute,
Toronto, and colleagues utilized data from the Health, Aging, andBody
Composition study, an ongoing prospective cohort study. The authors
adjusted the data for baseline Modified Mini-Mental State Examination
(MMMSE) scores, demographics, fat-free mass, sleep duration,
self-reported health and diabetes mellitus. When these variables were
accounted for, participants who had the highest activity energy
expenditure (AEE) scores tended to have lower oddsof incident
cognitive impairment. The authors also noticed a significant dose
response between AEE and incidence of cognitive impairment.
The authors of both articlessuggested that there is more to be learned
about the relationship between physical activity and cognitive
function.
"Various biologic mechanisms may explain the positive relation between
physical activity and cognitive health," wrote Vercambre and
colleagues. Middleton and co-authors stated, "The mechanisms by which
physical activity is related to late-life cognition are likely to be
multifactorial." The studies have been published in Archives of
Internal Medicine/
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