By Jimmy Downs

Tuesday Jan 28, 2013 (foodconsumer.org) -- A review article published in Brain Sciences shows evidence that suggests that physical activity can help prevent Alzheimer's disease in old adults who are at higher risk for the disease.

J. Carson Smith from Department of Kinesiology, School of Public Health, University of Maryland in College Park, MD and colleagues reviewed previous studies and found leisure-time physical activity and exercise training help maintain cognitive function in healthy older adults.

The protective effect of physical activity on future risk of dementia was more significant in those at increased genetic risk for Alzheimer's disease.  Among people who were APOE-ε4 allele carriers, high physical activity was associated with more significantly reduced amyloid burden.

Exercise training was also effective at promoting stable cognitive function in patients with mild cognitive impairment and better cardiorespiratory fitness was associated with larger brain volume in patients with early stage Alzheimer's disease.

Alzheimer's disease is a major form of dementia, which affects in most cases adults aged 65 or older.  There is no cure for this disease.