DEMENTIA -EXERCISING AND REDUCING DEMENTIA

EXERCISE CAN HELP THE DEMENTIA PATIENT

In 2011, an article in the "Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences" describes research that correlated aerobic exercise with changes in the hippocampus volume. (Erikson, Kirk. "Exercising Training Increases Size of Hippocampus and Improves Memory"

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. Vol 108, no 97, February 15, 2011, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3041121

HOW COULD EXERCISE CAUSE BRAIN VOLUME TO INCREASE?

DOES EXERCISING HELP PRODUCE THE BLOOD FLOW TO THE BRAIN WHICH HELPS REDUCE DEMENTIA?

Exercise promotes the production of a protein that participates in the "neurogenesis" process, the generation of new brain cells, and it also helps repair them as well. The protein is called the "brain-derived neurotrophic factor" or BDNF. It is thought that BDNF regenerates brain cells by promoting stem cells in the hippocampus to form new neurons. (Siresha Bethina and Unduri Das, "Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor and Its Clinical Implications", Archives of Medical Science, 2015 Dec 10-11:1164-1178)