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Researchers at UBC are using a new approach to measure how exercise therapy affects the brain
Brain Awareness Week (March 15-21) is a great time to think about your brain health and growing evidence supports the benefits of physical activity to reduce the risk for, or delay the onset of dementia.
With the prevalence of dementia expected to reach 1.1 million Canadians within a generation, Brain Awareness Week (March 15-21) is a great time to think about your brain health. Growing evidence supports the benefits of physical activity to reduce the risk for, or delay the onset of dementia.
Using a new approach at the UBC Hospital Clinic for Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Disorders, Dr. Robin Hsiung and his colleagues are investigating the effects of exercise on people with mild mental deficiencies. Known as mild cognitive impairment, forty to fifty percent of these cases will develop into dementia within five years.
“Our current research is studying exercise in a more proactive way,” says Hsiung. “Using MRI brain scans and blood biomarkers (which identify the progress of dementia), we’re actually measuring the physiological changes that take place in the brains of people who receive exercise therapy.”
In contrast, previous research has tended to be observational; drawing conclusions about the effects of exercise on the brain from clinical discussions with subjects.
“This research will give us a better understanding of how exercise is affecting the brains of people with dementia and its usefulness as an intervention strategy,” says Hsiung. “Apart from slowing the impact of Alzheimer’s and dementia, exercise is also beneficial for heart health and preventing strokes, with very little downside.”
In January, a new Alzheimer Society report, Rising Tide: The Impact of Dementia on Canadian Society projected alarming economic and social costs for the rising numbers of Canadians living with dementia, if nothing changes over the next 30 years.
According to the study, risk reduction and research are both key to lessening the social and economic impacts of dementia.
“More than ever, increased investments in research are critical to learning more about prevention and treatments to delay the onset of the disease,” says Jean Blake, CEO of the Alzheimer Society of B.C. The Society funds research at UBC and other institutions through the Alzheimer Society Research Program.
“This Brain Awareness Week, the Society is calling for British Columbians to take actions today,” adds Blake.
About the research study
The Promotion of the mind through exercise (PROMoTE) is funded by the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada and the Canadian Stroke Network. Principal Investigator: Teresa Liu-Ambrose, Ph.D, UBC. Co-Investigators: Janice J Eng, Lara A Boyd, Claudia Jacova, Jennifer C Davis, Stirling Bryan, Philip Lee, Penny Brasher, Ging-Yuek R Hsiung. For more information http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT01027858.
Take a tour inside your brain or learn simple brain health tips on our Healthy Brain page, or find out more about research in B.C.and Canada in our Research section.
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