Exercise and Dementia Prevention
The number of people living with dementia is expected to rapidly increase, reaching 78 million by the year 2030. As such, Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia are rapidly reaching epidemic levels.
These conditions cause untold suffering, disability and death. Compounding the issue is the poor efficacy of standard treatments for the prevention and treatment of dementia. While newer treatments have been approved, they are outrageously expensive for non-clinically significant benefits (Abdelazim 2024). Current costs for a year of one of the newest medications lecanemab are estimated to be around $26,000 dollars. These high costs and poor efficacy are also combined with a risk of brain swelling and brain volume losses, both of which are serious side effects (Barkhof 2023).
Fortunately, there are a number of often-overlooked approaches to preventing dementia. Arguably, one of the simplest is exercise. As an intervention, exercise has been found to provide robust health benefits, from improving mental health to reducing diabetes and heart disease risks (Xiao 2020). In fact, exercise has been shown to extend the lifespan (Reimers 2012).
Blood Sugar Dysregulation and Dementia
Dementia has long been associated with blood sugar problems. The connection is so strong that some research groups have suggested that Alzheimer’s disease might also be appropriately called diabetes type 3 (Michailidis 2022).
Getting consistent exercise is one of the simplest ways to help maintain good blood sugar levels. In fact, weight loss and exercise combined was shown to be superior to medication for reversing prediabetes (Echouffo-Tcheugui 2023). It shouldn’t come as a surprise that exercise can also help prevent or reverse blood sugar problems that underlie dementia.
Exercise and Dementia
A review comparing non-medication-based therapeutics for dementia found that physical exercise was one of the most effective treatments when applied early (Venegas-Sanabria 2024). Once dementia was established, the benefits of physical exercise were significantly reduced. To prevent dementia with exercise, you want to start early, before there are any signs or symptoms.
Beyond blood sugar benefits, exercise can also increase the production of a brain-cell growth factor called “brain-derived neurotrophic factor” or BDNF (Zhang 2024). Of the types of exercise explored, swimming was most effective for raising BDNF levels.
Dementia and Types of Exercise
For preventing dementia with exercise, the intensity of the exercise appears to play a part in efficacy. A review of the research suggests that Individuals should shoot for 1000 metabolic equivalent-minutes of exercise per week (Yuan 2024). Charts rating different types of exercise in “metabolic equivalents” or METs are available online. For reference, walking yields 5 METs per minute, while running is 10 METs. As such, 200 minutes of walking or 100 minutes of running per week would be an appropriate target to incorporate exercise as an effective strategy.
If an individual prefers a less intense routine, Tai Chi has also been shown to provide equivalent or better results as compared to regular exercise for dementia prevention (Rampengan 2024). As a treatment, Tai Chi appears to be most feasible for individuals with no symptoms or early stage memory impairments.
Other studies recommend multicomponent and aerobic exercise as some of the most effective (Li 2024). A multicomponent program includes aerobic, balance, flexibility and strength training all combined. Two or three 60 minute sessions per week are sufficient to achieve benefits.
Conclusion
Alzheimer’s disease and dementia are easier to prevent than to treat. Exercise can be an important component of prevention and early treatment of cognitive problems. For individuals who want to glean the benefits of exercise for cognitive health, consider a multicomponent exercise program, aerobic exercise or Tai Chi. Two or three one hour sessions per week is sufficient for decreasing the risks for developing dementia.
