How Physical Activity can prevent/delay Alzheimer’s Disease By: Joey Fillo Alzheimer's disease is the sixth leading cause of death in the United States. 1 in 3 seniors dies with Alzheimer's or another dementia. In 2013, Alzheimer's will cost the nation $203 billion. This number is expected to rise to $1.2 trillion by 2050 Facts Memory loss that disrupts daily life. Difficulty completing familiar tasks at home, at work or at leisure. Confusion with time or place. Misplacing things and losing the ability to retrace steps. Early Signs/Symptoms More than 5 million Americans are living with the disease. Today, an American develops Alzheimer's disease every 68 seconds. By 2025, the number of people age 65 and older with Alzheimer's disease is estimated to reach 7.1 million—a 40 percent increase. Prevalence Alzheimer’s Background: How physical activity helps: In 2008 the Canadian Study of Health and Aging (CSHA) conducted a 5 year study to see how exercise helps with cognitive change and mortality in older people and, particularly, whether exercise might also decrease the risk of Dementia. They did this by doing cognitive tests, which are directly linked to Dementia and Alzheimer’s disease, and questionnaires of over 10,000 individuals, and then examined the change in cognition and risk of mortality at a 5 year follow up. They found that those people who participated in high levels of exercise showed less cognitive decline from baseline over 5 years (3.1 points on the 3MS) than did the low/no exercise group (5.5 points). Furthermore, the high exercise group had less risk of cognitive decline (10.3% versus 15.8% in the low exercise group) and a higher chance of cognitive improvement/stability (89.7% versus 84.2% in low exercisers) High exercise was also associated with a lower risk of death overall. Other Info: The University of Washington School of Medicine and Veterans Affairs Puget Sound Health Care System tested the effects of aerobic training with 33 women and men with mild cognitive impairment, a prelude to Alzheimer's disease. After 6 months, the aerobic exercisers showed gains in mental agility, while the non-aerobic group showed decline in tests of thinking speed, fluency with words and ability to multi-task. Many scientists firmly believe physical activity is more likely to help prevent Alzheimer’s disease than existing pharmaceuticals or supplements, which have failed to show preventive effects in clinical trials. Physical fitness, overall health and mental stimulation provide a buffer that allows the brain to withstand more damage and still function normally. Aerobic exercise builds heart and artery resilience, which boosts blood flow to the brain. Works Cited "Latest Facts & Figures Report | Alzheimer's Association." Alz.org. Alzheimer's Association, n.d. Web. 13 June Middleton, Laura E., Arnold Mitnitski, Nader Fallah, Susan A. Kirkland, and Kenneth Rockwood. "Changes in Cognition and Mortality in Relation to Exercise in Late Life: A Population Based Study." PLOS ONE. Enrico Scalas, University of East Piedmont, Italy, 01 Sept Web. 13 June Rojas-Burke, Joe. "Alzheimer's Research: Aerobic Exercise Can Protect Brain, Improve Mental Agility." Oregon Live. The Oregonian, 11 Jan Web. 13 June 2013.