'Healthy body, healthy mind' new study confirms

Exercising twice a week can stave off dementia in older people already showing signs of cognitive decline, scientists say.
Resistance training could be an important part of reversing memory decline in older women with mild memory problems, according to a new study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine.
Researchers at the University of British Columbia in Canada studied 86 women between the ages of 70 and 80 who had mild cognitive impairment, a condition where people have problems with memory or other brain functions that are noticeable but not severe enough to interfere with daily life.
Predictably, this group of people is at increased risk of developing dementia. The women were divided into groups that underwent resistance training, aerobic exercise and balance and tone training twice a week for six months.Mild cognitive impairment is a well recognized risk factor for dementia, and represents a critical window of opportunity for intervening and altering the trajectory of cognitive decline in later life and the study showed that implementing an exercise program, specifically one using resistance training such as using a rowing machine or weights, can alter that trajectory of decline.
Teresa Liu-Ambrose, from the University of British Columbia, said the study perhaps most importantly showed that not only had brain function improved but regular resistance training also enhanced attention, memory and problem solving, improving the executive cognitive process of selective attention and conflict resolution functions, which are robust predictors for conversion from mild cognitive impairment to dementia.
Tweet