Strong muscles protect against Alzheimer's disease
Muscular dystrophy threatens Alzheimer's
Alexey Tymoshenko, GZT.ruMuscular dystrophy in old age increases the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease.
In older people, whose muscles have weakened more, this disease develops more often than in those who have retained muscle strength.
The study, which lasted several years, involved 970 people, whose average age was slightly more than 80 years. Initially, all participants underwent a comprehensive examination, during which they were offered a standard set of tests for detecting Alzheimer's disease, and their muscle strength was measured. A year later, the examination was repeated. When someone showed signs of developing Alzheimer's disease, the researchers compared the obtained data on physical strength and activity, body weight and genotype with similar indicators of healthy people.
Of all the elderly people who were observed by doctors from Rush University Medical Center (Chicago, USA), 138 were affected by Alzheimer's disease. And when scientists looked at the results of the examinations, an interesting detail that had previously been ignored by doctors was revealed: these patients were physically weaker.
Top and bottom 10%
Of course, strength does not unambiguously predict the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease. Like many other factors, it only makes a certain contribution, and therefore there are not so many reasons for concern for those who have never been able to lift a hundred-kilogram barbell off the floor.
Checking the observations showed that physical activity as such is not associated with the development of Alzheimer's disease: that is, it is strength that is important, not how much a person spends in motion, how his lungs work and what body weight is. Perhaps, scientists suggest, the effect is associated with the activity of mitochondria – intracellular structures that provide the body's cells with energy.
But at the same time, doctors note the following: the people who took part in their study, of course, were in different physical shape. The 10% of the strongest participants had a 60% lower risk of getting sick than the 10% of the weakest. The reason for this connection is still unclear, but the pattern itself is obvious, and gerontologists may well use it. For them, the muscular dystrophy of elderly patients can become a signal indicating the need for closer monitoring, and the elderly themselves can adjust their lifestyle taking into account this news.
American Retirees and the Second Medical Revolution
High life expectancy has led to the fact that this disorder has become quite common in developed countries: more than 14% of the patients among the participants of the experiment are a good example of this.
With the development of the disease, a significant burden falls on the shoulders of the patient's children: both psychological (with Alzheimer's disease, dementia develops, the patient reacts inadequately to others) and material. The loss of working time, the cost of nurses, the inevitable stress – all this makes you spend billions of dollars annually on finding the causes of the disease and developing drugs.
Genetically modified animals, supercomputers for calculating the interaction of proteins, markers developed on the basis of nanotechnology for monitoring diseased cells in experiments on mice – doctors use all the means available to modern science to fight the disease.
But along with these measures, there is also something that often remains behind the scenes: lifestyle. The report of the UN Human Development Program in 2009 stated that in developed countries, following the first medical revolution, the second one took place – after the advent of antibiotics and sanitation, the habit of taking care of one's own health came into practice. The fact that researchers are constantly reporting on the preventive effect of coffee, the beneficial effect of literacy, or the connection with physical fitness is a consequence of this second revolution. Coffee, books, and exercise are still more affordable than experimental drugs.
(Article by Patricia A. Boyle et al. Association of Muscle Strength With the Risk of Alzheimer's Disease and the Rate of Cognitive Decline in Community-Dwelling Older Persons is published in the journal Archives of Neurology. Vol. 66(11):1339-1344. November 2009 – VM.)
Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru12.11.2009