Posted on 02/25/2023 4:18:21 PM PST by ConservativeMind
Regular exercise at some point in life is a key to better cognitive health in old age, researchers say. Starting sooner is better and sustaining it longer are, too.
A new British study has found that exercising at least once a month at any time in adulthood is linked to better thinking and memory function in later life.
People who reported being physically active at least one to four times per month in separate surveys at the ages of 36, 43, 53, 60 to 64, and 69 had the biggest benefit.
The effect was greater than for those who said they exercised frequently (more than five times a month) during at least one of the study periods but who didn't necessarily keep it up across several surveys.
"Our study suggests that engaging in any leisure-time physical activity, at any point in adult life, has a positive effect on cognition. This seems to be the case even at light levels of activity, between once to four times a month," said Sarah-Naomi James. "What's more, people who have never been active before, and then start to be active in their 60s, also appear to have better cognitive function than those who were never active."
The biggest benefit for thinking and memory function was seen for folks who were physically active throughout their lives.
"The effect is accumulative, so the longer an individual is active, the more likely they are to have higher later-life cognitive function," James said.
Researchers had expected to learn whether being physically active during a particular period was most important. Instead, they concluded that starting some form of exercise and maintaining it over a long period may be more important than the timing of the activity.
The exact link between exercise and cognitive functioning is unclear.
(Excerpt) Read more at medicalxpress.com ...
I wish I’d had the discipline at a younger age to join a gym. I’ve done that now & am pleased at the results. I guess it was easier after retirement. Time is always short when you’re working.
Body by Science by Dr. Doug McGuff outlines a program that takes less than 30 minutes per week. It is something that is adaptable for people of any age or starting point. It can be done at home with minimal (or even zero) equipment.
Whatta bout daily?
Get a medium to large dog as a personal trainer.
They generally refuse to let you take a day off, much less less than 3x/day.
Good.
I just need to increase my exercise to once a month.
Sometime during the coming decades.
I have a new health watch that sends me an alert when I’ve been sedentary for an hour. Dang thing sends alerts when I’m comfortable.
It needs to send an alert when I’m already up. “Hey since you are up, why don’t walk to the mailbox. You might have something that is not junk this week.” would be helpful.
“You know what would be good later. Keto Ice cream bars. Why don’t you go shopping. But don’t buy too much, so you’ll have to go back more frequently. Thus increasing the steps to ice cream bar ratio.”
I exercised the last 12 days so I’m good for a year!
There you go!
Just get it all out the first 2 weeks of the year and be done with it. That might work!
Cardiac therapists reccomend 30 minutes a day of elevated heart activity, 6 days a week, rest on the Seventh:)
According to the studies that brought that about there is a 95% reduction in needs for medication or medical procedures.
Once a month it is!
.
I remember that as being right next to the Sea Monkeys. A lot worse programs have come out over the years.
Healthy people want to exercise, therefore, people who exercise are healthier.
I have 10 cats at the moment. They would disapprove of a dog. ;-)
My sister and I invested in those once.
It ended up being something like baby shrimp.
Another big thing was ant farms. I had one in my bedroom and my mother was horrified. She kept thinking the ants would escape in the middle of the night and invade the kitchen. They just ended up dying. Poor ants.
My ants didn’t make it, either.
The dog would likely enjoy being a personal trainer for the cats too. ;-)
Well some things are better than others.
Walking and doing physical things are much better than crosswords and brain teasers. And just starting walking can still help even when early symptoms show up.
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