Vigorous and continuous physical activity may slow the progression of Alzheimer’s. This is shown by two reports on two patients with positive Alzheimer’s biomarkers and mild cognitive impairment. The cases were reported on the Medpage medical website.
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Patient number 1 was diagnosed at the age of 64 with mild cognitive impairment. More than 15 years later, at the age of 80, he had minimal cognitive and functional decline and was diagnosed with mild Alzheimer’s disease. Patient #2 was diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment at age 72. At age 80, he showed no signs of disease progression.
There was a mean decrease of 0.3 points per year on the Mini Mental Health Examination (MMSE) for patient 1 and 0.125 points per year for patient 2, compared to a mean annual decrease of two MMSE points in patients with mild to moderate Alzheimer’s disease. How can this be explained?
Of all the possible contributing elements, intense physical activity was the likely cause of the change in the course of the disease, estimated Dr. Devanger Davenand of Columbia University Irving Medical Center in New York, co-author of the article, which was published in Alzheimer’s & Dementiaopens. The two aforementioned patients exercised regularly for hours a day and even increased their training after retiring or reducing their working hours.
“We know that light to moderate exercise is associated with a lower risk of developing dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease, but the effects of vigorous, regular exercise have been insufficiently studied,” Davenand told MedPage Today.
“The two patients in the report had ‘Alzheimer brain’ pathology based on biomarkers and clinical features, but both showed little cognitive decline over 16 years and eight years, respectively,” he said. “Regular vigorous exercise was the most likely explanation for their lack of decline, Because they had a number of medical problems and they didn’t focus on diet or cognitively stimulating activities beyond what they did earlier in their lives.”
Physical activity has been associated with a reduced risk of cognitive decline, and daily movement, including step counting, has been associated with a reduced risk of dementia. Meta-analyses have also found some evidence of a beneficial effect of exercise on cognitive symptoms of Alzheimer’s.
“Almost all published studies assessed light to moderate physical activity for several months to two years, without requiring regular physical activity during the entire follow-up period,” noted Davenand and colleagues.
Both patients in the case reports were evaluated at NYU Langone Health in New York. During recent follow-ups, both participated in VALADopens a clinical trial, led by Columbia University and supported by the US National Institute on Aging (NIA).