Exercise outperforms medications to treat alzheimer’s in theoretical study
With a more than 6 million people diagnosed or living with it in 2022, Alzheimer’s Disease is in the top 10 causes of death in the United States. Experts estimate that there will be more than 12 million Alzheimer’s patients by 2050. That’s a doubling of Alzheimer’s patients in less than 30 years.
So, what is Alzheimer’s Disease? Discovered in 1906 by Dr. Alois Alzheimer, the disease consists of changes to the brain tissue that inhibit cognitive function such as memory loss, issues with language, changes in behavior and temperament, and motor function. In a Alzheimer’s brain, amyloid plaques (proteins) build up and form clumps, while tau tangles also start to form as well. As all of this starts to happen, normal functioning neurons begin to lose connections and die. The disease begins in the hippocampus, where our memories are formed and stored.
Currently, there is no cure or overly effective treatment for Alzheimer’s disease. The FDA does have a few approved medications that are used treat symptoms of the disease such as donepezil, rivastigmine, and galantamine. However, there is a new study that was just published that shows a different approach to the disease may be more effective.
Published in Nature this past month, a research study concluded that the top theoretical treatment for Alzheimer’s Disease was exercise. In the dataset, different combinations were attempted using various scenarios to see which one would improve results against Alzheimer’s. The 25 dataset samples were taken from 67 already public Alzheimer’s Disease gene expression datasets. Scientists used multiple approaches to figure out which one worked best for reversing gene expression. They also studied what may have damaging effects on the brain and increase probability of Alzheimer’s Disease.
The results were amazing! Exercise outperformed all medications and methods used in the study. It worked best in both males and females. Curcumin, found in the Turmeric spice, came in 2nd for males. An excerpt from the study illustrates just how impressive exercise was in the models:
“The potential ability of exercise to reverse AD patterns was striking. For the first and second ranked treatments 409 and 344 AD genes were reversed while only 20 and 45 genes were in the same direction, respectively. Enrichment for AD genes reversed by the top exercise treatment included cell adhesion, cytoskeletal binding, neuron projection as well as multiple entries related to blood vessels, including blood vessel morphogenesis, circulatory system development, blood vessel development (Fig. 3B). These latter categories are of interest as decreased blood flow is associated with AD65 and exercise is posited to elevate brain blood flow as part of its effect on cognition66.
Also found in the study it was found that alcohol at certain levels could be a risk factor for Alzheimer’s Disease. Depression was also linked to Alzheimer’s Disease, although it is not yet a proven risk factor for the disease. But it is important to note that there are studies that show exercise improves symptoms of depression as well. Perhaps, there are links between them.
The key takeaway from this theoretical study is that making an effort to get exercise into your lifestyle is a key to brain health. Movement and exercise have long been praised to help with different aspects of overall health such as cardiovascular, muscular, and skeletal. Exercise and movement is essential for the human body to work at its optimal health. And thankfully, it may also prove to effectively treat those fighting Alzheimer’s Disease.