When people are ageing, everything in the body slows down. Even brain activity is beginning to show signs of ageing, however, with hard work the process of ageing can be a little slower. According to Mirror, a new research found that regular exercise during middle-age will help keep Alzheimer's away.
Maintaining a healthy lifestyle into older age is a great way to avoid any chances of brain malfunction, which is the main reason that a person has higher chances of getting the disease. When a person ages, the blood supply to the brain reduces. The blood-brain barrier, a semi-permeable membrane separating the blood from the cerebrospinal fluid becomes weak. The pericyctes maintains the barrier. The astrocytes are important support cells, starts to slow down with the ageing process.
When these cells stop functioning well and the brain is prone to inflammation, this results to a not-so-good outcome. This inflammation however, is unavoidable according to the scientists in The Jackson Library. The results they published in Open Access Journal PLOS Biology show that exercise is the key in maintaining good neural function. They tested some mice in different ages; the ones known to be in their middle age were given an upward wheel to run. The mice that have the equivalent to 60 years old for humans were found to be more engaging in spontaneous behaviors which are commonly affected for those people who are sedentary. But there is a mice that was lacking with the a gene called Apoe, this has been found to be a major factor that can cause Alzheimer's, this simply means exercise didn't have any effect.
Many studies have already connected the link between developing Alzheimer's and vascular dyfunction in the brain that can happen during old age. The study stressed the importance of living an active and healthy lifestyle, explained Dr. Gareth Howell, co-author of this study. He hopes that even at this day and age where it's easy to follow a sedentary lifestyle that doesn't include exercise; this study could help encourage people to have a healthy and active lifestyle.
For those who can't exercise due to some unforeseen reasons, he said that this study also provides information and insights to how exercise may help the brain's health and that may one day help in improving treatments to these kinds of cognitive decline.
