A recent report from the Mayo Clinic suggests that individuals who moderately exercised 1-5 times a week between the ages of 50-65 were much less likely to have severe memory loss.

Geda [a neuropsychiatrist at Mayo and the researcher issuing the report] said he thinks that the people who were regular exercisers in their 50s and 60s were probably pretty active for most of their lives. The ones who said they exercised only in the previous year showed no benefit.

The results may be a stretch but Geda is willing to take that stretch and presented his findings to the American Academy of Neurology last week.

Geda said he doesn’t know why exercise might make a difference, but he has some ideas. Exercise may increase a type of brain chemical that protects neurons. Or it may be that people who exercise are just generally healthier.

He also warns that any study based on people’s memory could be flawed. One like this that relies on the memories of people with faulty memories could be perceived as especially problematic, he agreed. But MCI affects mostly short term memory, not long term.

It was enough to convince him.

” After I saw this, it really made me not forget so much to go the gym,” he said. “It is kind of motivating.”

What do you think?

[tags] Dementia, Mayo Clinic, Running, Health [/tags]