Studies have shown regular physical activity can slow down or prevent Alzheimer’s disease, but new research from a leading expert at LSU’s Pennington Biomedical Research Center has found that is not the case. Dr. Jeffrey Keller says their study found that exercise and aggressive cardiovascular risk reduction successfully improved heart health but did NOT produce measurable cognitive benefits in older adults at risk for Alzheimer’s.
“We didn’t see any benefit, compared to other studies that have gone on out there,” Keller said.
The study involved 480 participants between the ages of 60 and 85. The participants had hypertension and a family history of dementia and subjective cognitive decline. Keller says they spent 24 months seeing if exercise, along with blood pressure medicine, could improve cognitive function, and they found out it did not.
“The study is somewhat disappointing in that exercise, as well as blood pressure and cholesterol control, were not beneficial. I think they only serve to highlight even more, the importance of these additional variables of cognitive behavior therapy and socialization,” Keller said.
Keller believes exercise is beneficial for anyone; but this study illustrates that to prevent dementia, exercise needs to be combined with medicine, cognitive behavior therapy and social interaction.
“It’s absolutely true that the studies that are finally coming through to show benefits on cognitive change with aging and in diseases like dementia, do not work by doing one or two things,” Keller noted.
From the LSU Pennington Biomedical Research Center:
The multicenter study analyzed 480 participants between the ages of 60 and 85 who exhibited hypertension and had a family history of dementia and subjective cognitive decline. Over 24 months, the study tested whether exercise or vascular risk reduction via medications, or both, could improve cognitive function in older adults at risk for Alzheimer’s. The interventions included 160 minutes per week of moderate-to-vigorous exercise and a high-intensity statin. Participants were separated into four groups: one with exercise only, one with just medication intervention, one with both and a control group that received their usual care. They were then evaluated against the Preclinical Alzheimer Cognitive Composite (PACC), which produced standardized score units.
At the end of the study, researchers determined there were no significant differences between the groups for the primary outcome of cognition. Data showed there was only 0.1 standard deviation on the PACC score between the exercise and no exercise groups, and there was no score difference between the medication intervention and the groups not receiving the intervention.
In evaluating cardiovascular health, the data confirmed that the interventions with medications, including losartan and amlodipine, were successful in reducing blood pressure by an average of 13 points, 5 points more than those not receiving the medication intervention. The medication intervention group also saw a 24-point drop in LDL cholesterol, compared to a drop of 7 points for those not receiving the intervention.
Exercise and cardiovascular risk management are still essential for overall health in seniors. While the study data did indicate improvements to cardiovascular health, it also demonstrated that no meaningful cognitive benefit was observed. Researchers contend that this approach needs further study, and that a longer study duration or a multi-domain approach may result in a better understanding of how to prevent or delay cognitive decline.
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