Can exercise prevent Alzheimer's? How to prevent Alzheimer's

May 2, 2023
Atrophy of the hippocampal gyrus raises the risk of Alzheimer's disease. The hippocampal gyrus can continue to grow with increased exercise, so can exercise prevent Alzheimer's disease.

Regular exercise helps prevent Alzheimer's disease

According to human evolutionary history, the hippocampus receives critical growth stimuli through physical activity. Body movements send signals to the hippocampus that indicate the need to receive new experiences and invite the hippocampus to accelerate the formation of new neurons. The logic of this evolutionary development is simple: if you move your body to do something, you are more likely to experience something new, and you must remember it, so you need a larger memory. The hormones that are released during body movements will simultaneously stimulate the hippocampus to generate new neurons. In contrast, inactive people do not transmit such hormones, which indirectly tells the brain that without new experiences, the hippocampus can stop growing.

Exercise expands our horizons

The reason for the natural shrinkage of the hippocampus as we age is not age, but lack of exercise. Evidence suggests that a reduction in hippocampal gyrus volume is associated with a decline in memory function. In terms of memory test scores, walkers scored better than those who did gymnastics. Another study with a similar design found that walking three kilometers a day reduced the risk of Alzheimer's disease by almost half compared to walking only 400 meters a day.

Moving forward to rest

Physical activity is good for the mind; it not only benefits the hippocampus, but also improves other brain functions. People who are active are more stress-resistant than those who are physically inactive because their neuronal production also plays a decisive role. They are more able to put unimportant things behind them and make decisions more easily in conflict situations. Adequate exercise can also improve cholesterol values, make the cardiovascular circulatory system work more economically, and lower blood pressure. Sleep also becomes more restful if the body is worked during the day, but not too much. All of these effects (and more) combine to reduce not only the risk of Alzheimer's disease caused by a smaller hippocampus, but also the risk of vascular stroke. Walking, swimming, and cycling all help. The most important thing is: regular exercise. In particular, it is important to overcome the physical inertia caused by technological advances. Our lives, or at least our physical demands, are becoming more and more about comfort. By abandoning technological aids, we can show the effects of healing!

What prevents us from exercising

We can make new decisions every day, or walk, or drive, cook our own food, or throw a frozen pizza in the microwave, and our brains will reward them for the sweaty movements they make to get food. The brain wants to grow because it wants to keep collecting life experiences and use the knowledge gained to ensure that it can successfully reproduce offspring. This is the reason why the brain releases the happiness signal substance serotonin even today, as long as the physical exercise is not excessive. When you come back from a walk, you generally feel more comfortable than before. But the last question is, why people often can not be motivated to exercise? Is it because they work too hard to live comfortably and certainly enjoy a break from doing nothing? Or is it because our education and social norms teach us from an early age to sit quietly in order to prepare children early for a life in line with the market mechanism, the logic that whoever can sit long enough in front of the computer will be successful? Unfortunately, many people still have the same misconception until today. It is not until it is too late that they wake up to the dream.

How to stay healthy and promote brain growth

1. The most important thing is to integrate physical activity into your daily life. Even if you do one hour of exercise three nights a week, there are still 165 hours in a week when you may not be active. So forgo technological assistance whenever you can and use your own strength! 2. Design a training program based on the provisions of the previous brief study. After a few months of intensive period, stick to two to three weight training sessions per week for a long time, and five to six aerobic endurance training units with different variations. Regular practice of physically demanding hatha yoga, depending on the situation, with yoga partially or fully replacing weight training. 3. In any case, it is recommended that all people who have not exercised for a long time draw up a training program with an experienced coach. Practice under the guidance of an instructor for the first few months at first, especially if you start slowly! 4. Hippocampal gyrus-induced dementia and vascular dementia have several common causes, especially high blood pressure, bad cholesterol, fat metabolism problems, smoking, diabetes, and excess weight. If you are at risk for any of these, be sure to consult a physician before starting more exercise. 5. Important: Doing exercise together in a group is most enjoyable. So it's best to join a sports club, or ask friends and partners to do exercise together to be regular! 6. As often as possible to go outdoors, not only because the air is better, but also because this can produce the hippocampus is very important to the sun hormone vitamin D. 7. If you have orthopedic disease or other ailments, please work with a physician, exercise instructor or physical therapist to find a solution. Wheelchair users can also exercise the upper body and improve the body's oxygen level. 8. Occasionally use home gym equipment, while working out and watching TV is also feasible. Gardening has also been shown to reduce the risk of Alzheimer's disease, for example, a manual water beater is the best apparatus to exercise the abdomen, arms and back. Sweating and plowing can also make people sweat and release many hormones to stimulate the hippocampus to grow back.
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