The Value of Exercise in Keeping Mentally sharp

In an article in the Wall St. Journal on 8/12/09 (page D3- by Carrie Porter) two studies in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) showed that long term lifestyle habits may reduce your chances of cognitive impairment as you age. In one study of 1,880 elderly people in NYC, they concluded that a Mediterranean type of diet combined with physical activity were each linked to a decreased risk for Alzheimer's Disease. The second study focused on diet and mental decline together. The article concluded that while both diet and excercise had a positive impact together, even seperately they provided great benefit.
So what does this mean as we grow older?
Get moving now- make some lifestyle changes as early on as possible to have the greatest impact. The author of the first study, Dr. Nikolaos Scarmeas, said "the relative risk reduction for Alzheimer's is about 60% when you combine the diet and excercise" Wow, that's pretty significant! I'm in, how about you?

In another source, at www.realage.com, Dr. Mehmet Oz talks about the benefit of committing to long term excercise. He writes "it's not clear yet whether the long-term exercise caused favorable changes in the study subjects' brain anatomy or if the people with the healthier brains were simply more likely to excercise" The study he quotes found that the brain imaging tests on adults between the ages of 60 and 80 who were most active, appeared more like those of people much younger.

Ok- so now what? Take some small changes upon yourself- tune in for suggestions of 'palatable' forms of excercise, that you can take upon yourself- slowly.
Meanwhile, get out your sneakers and take a little walk, even if it is around the block, or up and down the hallway outside of your apartment.