What’s Interesting about Brisk Walking Helping Only Some with Alzheimer’s

By Henri Bergius from Finland (Walking) [CC BY-SA 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Regular exercise is linked to improved memory and endurance for older adults but this was not the case in a recent study of those with early onset Alzheimer’s.  

“What surprised the scientists was how few of the walkers with Alzheimer’s had actually gained endurance. The same exercise program that previously had increased the aerobic capacity of almost every healthy, older participant now had benefits for the bodies of only a few of the walkers with Alzheimer’s.

“This finding suggests that ‘there may be physiological differences between people with and without Alzheimer’s that reach to the cellular level,’ says Jill Morris, a senior scientist at the University of Kansas Alzheimer’s Disease Center, who led the study.

“In effect, the bodies as well as the brains of people with Alzheimer’s disease may be unusual compared to those of healthy older people and may respond differently, if at all, to exercise, she says.”

Reynolds, Gretchen Frequent, Brisk Walks May Aid Those With Early Alzheimer’s, March 1, 2017, New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/01/well/move/frequent-brisk-walks-may-aid-those-with-early-alzheimers.html?rref=collection%2Fbyline%2Fgretchen-reynolds&action=click&contentCollection=undefined&region=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=2&pgtype=collection&_r=0