More On Exercise Versus Alzheimer's
It's been fairly well established that exercise can delay or reduce the risk of suffering many age-related conditions - Alzheimer's disease included. Here, ScienceDaily reports on further investigations into the biochemistry underlying the protective effects of exercise. "Physical activity appears to inhibit Alzheimer's-like brain changes in mice, slowing the development of a key feature of the disease, according to a new study. The research demonstrated that long-term physical activity enhanced the learning ability of mice and decreased the level of plaque-forming beta-amyloid protein fragments - a hallmark characteristic of Alzheimer's disease (AD) - in their brains. ... [exercise] may bring about a change in the way that amyloid precursor protein is metabolized."
Link: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/04/050426214147.htm