Study Shows How You Too Can
Lower Your Stroke and Alzheimer’s Risks
by www.SixWise.com
Stroke we all know is a major health risk. Alzheimer’s disease, a progressive and fatal brain disease, is the seventh leading cause of death in the United States. The condition destroys brain cells, leading to memory loss and problems with thinking and behavior that are severe enough to impact work, hobbies and social life, and which get worse over time.
What Strokes and Alzheimer’s have in common is relevant and revealed in depth by Bruce Reed, PhD Associate Director of the Alzheimer's Disease Research Center at UC Davis (as he presented a comprehensive research update on Alzhemier's Disease with correlations to strokes)
About 5.3 million people in the United States are currently living with Alzheimer’s disease, and every 70 seconds one more person is added to that list, according to the Alzheimer’s Association 2009 Alzheimer’s Disease Facts and Figures.
Further, it's estimated that 10 million baby boomers will develop Alzheimer's during their lifetime -- and this number is expected to triple by 2050. This devastating illness causes infinite emotional hardship and requires more than $148 billion each year in direct and indirect costs.
The majority of people with Alzheimer's are over the age of 65 -- an age after which the changes of developing the disease double every five years. But, of course, just because you age or get older does not mean that you will develop Alzheimer's, and there are, in fact, known methods to prevent this epidemic disease -- including a newly revealed step that you can get started on today.
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People with the most muscle strength had a 61 percent lower risk of Alzheimer’s than those with the least, according to new research.
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Build Your Muscles to Keep Your Brain Strong
A new study from researchers at the Rush Alzheimer's Disease Center in Chicago found that the greater a person’s muscle strength, the lower their risk of Alzheimer’s was over a four-year period. They also had a lower risk for loss of mental function, which often occurs prior to Alzheimer’s.
The study, which was published in the Annals of Neurology, measured the strength of nine muscle groups in the arms and legs of 970 dementia-free people between the ages of 54 and 100 years.
Even after adjusting for age and education level, which can both affect Alzheimer’s risk, they found muscle strength had a strong association with a lowered risk. In fact, those who were in the top 10 percent for muscle strength were 61 percent less likely to develop Alzheimer’s than the weakest 10 percent.
Those with stronger muscles also showed a slower decline in mental abilities over time.
While the study didn’t show for certain that stronger muscles will prevent Alzheimer’s disease, the researchers said staying fit is important for your cognitive function.
"We certainly think that it is important to be physically active and to work to keep our muscles strong. Good physical health is important for good brain function,” Dr. Patricia A. Boyle of Rush Alzheimer's Disease Center in Chicago told Reuters.
Other Exercise Forms May Also Reduce Your Stroke and Alzheimer’s Risk
Numerous studies have shown that exercises beyond strength training, even moderate exercise, reduces the risk of dementia, including Alzheimer's.
Aerobic exercise also reduces your risk of stroke in many ways. According to the Mayo Clinic, exercise can lower your blood pressure, increase your level of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, and improve the overall health of your blood vessels and heart. It also helps you lose weight, control diabetes and reduce stress.
"Walking 45 minutes three times a week for six months significantly improved mental ability of older adults with no dementia; a randomly selected control group that did stretching and toning had no change," says Arthur Kramer, a psychologist at the University of Illinois.
Another study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine also found that seniors who did as little as 15 minutes a day of modest exercise three times a week reduced their risk of developing dementia by about 30 percent.
Keeping Your Mind Stimulated is Also Important
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Mental stimulation, including crossword puzzles, cards, board games, taking a class, socializing and other hobbies, can also ward off cognitive decline.
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"A lifetime of intellectual curiosity and mental stimulation" may help to promote brain health, according to the Alzheimer's Association. In fact, numerous studies suggest that stimulating your brain as you age can ward off dementia and cognitive decline.
And according to the Mayo Clinic, "Some researchers believe that lifelong mental exercise and learning may promote the growth of additional synapses, the connections between neurons, and delay the onset of dementia."
An Exercise Program to Stimulate Your Body and Your Mind?
You should make time to do daily, what others pay thousands for, that you are completely able to do inexpensively right in your own home now.
You can and should incorporate a variety of exercise routines for best results. This includes not only aerobic but also strength-training and core-building exercises. You should also strive to give your mind a mental “workout” regularly.
In addition, we recommend you get a “mind-body” workout, which has benefits for both your physical and mental sides, by trying out a one-of-a-kind program that is used by numerous fitness buffs and professional athletes … a mind-body fitness program that takes the best components of Pilates, Yoga, Tai Chi, Martial Arts, Gyro-Kinesis, Dance and MORE -- guiding you through unique sequences of movements that strengthen, sculpt, build core and increase flexibility!
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MySheaNetics.com: A Mind-Body Workout All-in-One!
MySheaNetics.com provides a blend of top mind-body-spirit programs into one that realizes your goal is to find total health and fulfillment that is life lasting. This can be achieved by creating harmony in body, mind and self.
MySheaNetics.com gives you the practical tools to build your muscles and reduce mental stress at the same time.
Each nearly one hour workout is a new blend of the-best-of-the-best from Yoga, Pilates, Tai Chi, Martial Arts, Gyro-Kinesis, Dance and MORE -- guiding you through unique sequences of movements that strengthen, sculpt, build core and increase flexibility!
What is amazing for those professional athletes and movie stars, who have paid tens of thousands for personal training with Shea Vaughn, is that they and NOW YOU too get the continuous benefits at home for significantly less than the price of one In-Person Training Session:
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Shea Vaughn’s exclusive program is offered by MySheaNetics.com. It was founded by fitness expert Shea Vaughn, who has blended ancient and contemporary movements with eastern philosophy, creating a stylized approach to fitness designed to improve the quality of today’s western living.
You will see by clicking on all three “PLAY CLIP” buttons on their MySheanetics.com site that the range of students on MySheaNetics.com is impressively diverse from 25- to 75-year-olds, men and women, fitness buffs, movie stars, and athletes, people who want to get in shape, those who wish to maintain their present state of fitness and many who want to take it to a higher level.
MySheaNetics.com has a broad appeal also extending to individuals with special challenges, including physical difficulties, limited range of motion or anyone who just wants to lengthen or stretch muscles and strengthen the body while opening their mind and nourishing their total self.
Shea’s over 25 years of learning and teaching also showed her that “interest alone” is not sufficient to keep a person engaged. Shea believes that "fitness is both a state of the body and of the mind," and this is why SheaNetics is based on the Five Living Principles, which are a positive guide for all you do.
This program is truly unlike any other fitness program. This is "meditation in motion and thought" It reduces stress and allows you to enjoy a lifestyle of fitness, personal balance and well-being.
This is especially important in regard to Alzheimer’s disease, as, according to the Center for Healthy Minds, elderly people who experience a lot of psychological distress (worrying, feeling insecure or nervous) are more likely to show signs of mental decline. In fact, one study found that people prone to high levels of distress were twice as likely to develop symptoms of Alzheimer's disease after five years than those who were prone to low levels of distress.
Most exercise programs are geared only to give you short-term physical improvement. SheaNetics™ has uncovered and reveals the underlying true real goal for us all is to find total health and fulfillment that is life-lasting. This can only be achieved by creating harmony in body, mind, and self.
We encourage you to check out Shea’s new 6-Disc DVD/CD workout set to "get started on your pathway to well-being!"
This uniquely engaging and motivating DVD collection contains:
And Now Keep Fit and Mentally Strong for Less!
MySheanetics.com has nearly sold out and told us that they will soon no longer offer this value of combined DVDs and CDs once this combo offer is gone. They plan to break this set up into individual DVDs and CDs, each costing as much as one half this price or more, which could make this total package as much as three times the price or more.
So we recommend you buy NOW before this offer is no longer available!
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Order your 6-PACK SheaNetics DVD/CD workout collection today!
What Else Can Help Lower Your Alzheimer’s Risk?
Giving your mind and body a regular workout is just one way to help you keep your mind strong. You can find out more tips to lower your Alzheimer’s risk in this past article, 10 Steps to Avoid Alzheimer’s.
Recommended Reading
How to Prevent Alzheimer's: The Most Effective Ways to Avoid this Rapidly Increasing Disease
10 Steps to Avoid Alzheimer's
Sources
Annals of Neurology 2009 Nov;66(11):1339-44.
Alzheimer’s Association 2009 Alzheimer’s Disease Facts and Figures
Yahoo News November 9, 2009
MayoClinic.com Stroke