(Source: Chicago Tribune) - Some preliminary research suggests that exercise can improve brain function, but many doctors are not ready to say that at-risk patients should begin a workout regimen.
One study presented last week found that patients with early Alzheimer's who had good aerobic fitness tended to retain brain volume in the hippocampus, a brain region critical for memory.
Exercise may help cognition by encouraging the growth of blood vessels that feed the brain, or by stimulating connections between brain cells. But for now the precise nature of the link between exercise and dementia remains a mystery, said Dr. Richard Caselli.
Reports indicate that exercise improves patients' ability to do some daily tasks, but the studies did not measure the direct effect of exercise on cognition. "You'd think that sort of trial would have been done by now, but it hasn't," said study co-author Dr. Jeffrey Burns.
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