Loss of balance and a persons gait are early signs of Alzheimer disease

July 17, 2012

tags: alzheimer, alzheimer and exercise, alzheimer disease, alzheimer loss of a balance, alzheimer loss of gait, alzheimer new york times, alzheimer vancouver, dementia and exercise, exercise and fitness, use today alzheimer

Alzheimer and dementia caregiver

Movement is fundamental for us since we are biological human beings. That is why I was not surprised when in the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference in Vancouver, Canada one of the main lines of research is concentrating on how we age and our decline in movement. Changes in gait, loss of balance, clumsy coordination are all symptoms that we tend to associate with old age until now when researchers in Alzheimer are seeing how this extremely important changes can lead to early diagnosis and effective treatment. I have been training a client with Dementia and I can see clear changes in posture, gait, coordination.

The disease afflicts 5.4 million in the USA, and the number is forecast to spike to 16 million in 2050 as Baby Boomers age.

“Walking and movements require a perfect and simultaneous integration of multiple areas of the brain,” says Rodolfo Savica, author of a study at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn.

Studies show that changes in the way a person walks can be an early warning sign of cognitive decline.

From USA Today The findings are the first to link a physical symptom to the disease, which up until now required doctors to begin a diagnosis by focusing on cognition and administering lengthy neurological exams. The evidence in the five studies is “robust,” experts say. They note walking changes can occur even before cognition decline surfaces click here to read more

WHAT IS ALZHEIMER DISEASE?

Is a progressive and fatal brain disease. As many as 5.5 million Americans are living with Alzheimer’s disease. Alzheimer’s destroys brain cells, causing memory loss and problems with cognitive thinking and behavior severe enough to affect in or out home, work, lifelong hobbies or social life. Alzheimer’s gets worse over time, and it is fatal. Today it is the seventh-leading cause of death in the United States.Warning Signs and Stages of Alzheimer’s Disease.

WARNING SIGNS

Warning signs

WHAT CAN WE DO? BE SMART: EXERCISE YOUR HEART

Exercise and lately studies in cardiovascular activity are proving that aerobic exercise will improve and create new neurons in that section of the brain that it is sensitive to a progressive loss of neurons. A lately study proved the implications of exercise and how that section of the brain receives an incredible amount of blood when we exercise

Physical fitness levels influence brain atrophy in Alzheimer’s

Strength training as a countermeasure to aging muscle and chronic disease.

Total daily physical activity and the risk of AD and cognitive decline in older adults.

EXERCISE PREVENTS ALZHEIMER DISEASE: