Exercise Your Brain
The US News and World report article, Exercise Is Good For Your Brain, opened with an enticing paragraph:
“The benefits of exercise have been well-established over the years. Now, there may be even more incentive to dust off those sneakers and take a walk or jog around the neighborhood.”
Anyone that has watched a loved one slip into dementia or go through the stages of Alzheimer’s knows the pain that a family can experience from them. The strong become weak and the wise revert back to a state of toddler-dom. The stricken lose hope and families feel helpless. And there is also the lingering fact that heredity plays a part in these conditions, so they pray for some preventive cure to come about.
It’s looking more and more like simple self-care plays a role in fighting Alzheimer’s and dementia. The studies referenced in the US News article show that exercise, at minimum, improves memory and brain function among seniors. It fits into plain logic because the exercise brings a sense of well-being. It’s almost as if the brain is saying “Thanks!” with a reward to the body and emotions.
The studies don’t say that exercise will prevent Alzheimer’s and dementia completely, but they do offer serious motivation for those in their 40s and 50s to get active if they aren’t already. So get up and walk around the block. It does a body, and brain, good.