UNC Study Shows that Physically Active Elderly have Healthier Cerebral Blood Vessels
New research from the University of
North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine finds that aerobic
activity may keep the brain young.
In
the study published July 9 in the American Journal of Neuroradiology,
physically active elderly people showed healthier cerebral blood
vessels.
Researchers
led by Elizabeth Bullitt, M.D., Van L. Weatherspoon Distinguished
Professor of neurosurgery, used non-invasive magnetic resonance (MR)
angiography to examine the number and shape of blood vessels in the
brains of physically active elderly people, 7 men and 7 women, ages
60 to 80.
The
study subjects were equally divided into 2 groups. The high activity
group reported participating in an aerobic activity for a minimum of
180 minutes per week for the past 10 consecutive years, and the low
activity group told investigators they had no history of regular
exercise and currently spent less than 90 minutes a week in any
physical activity. (The researchers did not know into which group
participants were placed.)
This
is the first study to compare brain images of elderly subjects who
exercise with those that do not.
Aerobically
active subjects exhibited more small-diameter vessels with less
tortuosity, or twisting, than the less active group, exhibiting a
vessel pattern similar to younger adults.
http://www.unchealthcare.org/site/newsroom/news/2009/June/bullitt
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