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Researchers recommend exercise as a drug as part of a study to determine if it can prevent Alzheimer's disease.
"We are testing whether exercise is a medication for people with a mild memory problem," says Laura Baker, Senior Researcher of the EXERT National Study and Associate Director of the Center for Research on Cancer. Alzheimer's disease of the Wake Forest School of Medicine.
The study, funded by the National Institute on Aging, could help determine if exercise can protect people from the memory and thinking problems badociated with Alzheimer's disease.
"Scientific evidence has shown for 20 years that exercise at the right intensity could protect brain health as you get older," Baker said.
But much of this evidence comes from small studies, which last only a few months or do not rely on personal estimates of their level of exercise.
The EXERT study is different. It takes 300 people at high risk for Alzheimer's disease and randomly badign them to one of two groups for 18 months.
Half of the participants do aerobics exercises, such as running on a treadmill. The other half does stretching exercises and flexibility for comparison purposes.
This approach is very similar to that used by pharmaceutical companies to test new drugs. Except in this study, participants travel to the local YMCA to take their medications.
To participate in the EXERT study, participants must be between the ages of 65 and 89 and not exercise regularly. They must also have mild cognitive impairment, a type of memory loss that often precedes Alzheimer's disease.
"My memory is not what it is supposed to be," says Richard, 75, who enrolled in the study six months ago. "My pockets are always filled with notes, because that's what I do.I am very bad with the names."
We use only Richard's first name to protect his privacy and the integrity of the study, which does not allow investigators to know which participants participate in what form of exercise.
Richard became part of the EXERT study after his wife saw a flyer arrive in the mail.
"In a few minutes, she's on the phone," he says. "And the next thing I know, is that I'm interviewed, they take blood, they spin me for stuff, and I'm in the program."
For the past six months, Richard has been going to the Y four days a week. He takes his workouts seriously.
"The only one I missed [is when] I had undergone a small surgery, "he says.
As part of the study, Richard and other participants undergo memory and thought tests. They also have tests to monitor blood flow in the brain, brain atrophy and toxic protein levels badociated with Alzheimer's disease.
Howard Feldman, professor of neuroscience at the University of California at San Diego and director of the Alzheimer's Disease Cooperative Study, consortium that oversees the EXERT study, will make the final results.
"We will not only understand if the intervention helps patients achieve a clinical outcome, but also what is the scientific basis," Feldman said.
And even if the study fails to preserve memory, he says, participants benefit from it.
"You invoke optimism, you invoke hope, you talk about collegiality, you create a peer group for people," Feldman said.
Richard does not know if his memory is better than when he had started doing exercise. But going to the gym has changed his life, he says.
"There is a donut stop on the other side of the street that I ignore every time I go out," he says. "I loved pretzels stuffed with peanut butter, [but I] I have not had one in six months. And as a result, I lost 8 kilos. "
It was hard to find enough people like Richard, however.
"It's extremely difficult to find people with memory problems who want to come to the Y four times a week and who commit to participate in the study for 18 months," says Andrea LaCroix. , Professor and Head of the Department of Epidemiology at UCSD who is working to recruit more participants for EXERT.
The national EXERT study has recruited about 200 people so far. But it takes 100 more.
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