Comprehensive Center for Brain Health Opens in Boca Raton
Dr. James Galvin, the Director of the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine’s Comprehensive Center for Brain Health, describes how the new center’s goal is to better treat and prevent degenerative brain diseases like Alzheimer’s and Lewy Body Dementia through research studies and seeing patients. Bobbi Rutt is one of those patients.
Lifestyle changes improve cognition in people at risk for Alzheimer's
(CNN) - A new study finds personalized lifestyle interventions not only stopped cognitive decline in people at risk for Alzheimer's, but actually increased their memory and thinking skills within 18 months. "This is the first study in a real-world clinic setting showing individualized clinical management may improve cognitive function and also reduce Alzheimer's and cardiovascular risk," Isaacson said. The study was published Wednesday in the journal "Alzheimer's and Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer's Association." "Our study was designed to look at the effects of lifestyle intervention on cognitive function," Isaacson said. The study was not designed to prevent Alzheimer's, only to see if lifestyle changes affected cognitive function.

Regular aerobic exercise may slow progression to Alzheimer's
Subjects were randomized to 12 months of aerobic exercise or stretching and toning. Both aerobic and stretching may prevent or slow cognitive decline, according to the researchers, but aerobic exercise had more benefits on reducing hippocampal shrinkage than stretching. But MRI and PET imaging showed those who did aerobic exercise had slower degeneration in the hippocampus than those who did flexibility training. "The brains of participants with amyloid responded more to the aerobic exercise than the others," Zhang said. "Most physicians believe in the power of exercise to support overall brain health, but fewer believe that exercise can specifically impact people with early Alzheimer's," Isaacson said.