Researchers at the Columbia University in New York have claimed that older people can avoid cerebrovascular disease if they regularly exercise at a moderate to intense level. A study conducted by them has found out that regular exercises may help prevent brain lesions in senior people.
Study author Joshua Z. Willey explains that the brain injuries or the "silent strokes" can raise the risk of falls and can affect mobility apart from causing memory problems, dementia and may even lead to strokes.
The study was conducted with 1,238 people who have never experienced a stroke in their life so far. They were required to fill up a questionnaire which tried to draw details regarding the frequency and the intensity of their exercises at the beginning of the study. After six years, the subjects were made to undergo MRI scans of their brains. At that time, the average age of the study participants stood at 70.
The results revealed that around 43 percent of the subjects did not have a regular exercise schedule at all, 36 percent were found to engage themselves in light exercises like golfing, bowling, walking or dancing while 21 percent of the study subjects revealed that they engaged themselves in moderate to intense exercises like swimming, biking, jogging, hiking and playing tennis.
Small brain lesions came to be revealed by the MRI scans in 16 percent of the participants. It was found that those who engaged themselves in moderate to intense exercise were 40 percent less likely to experience brain lesions in comparison to those who did not exercise.
Researchers hope that the findings will encourage older people to go for moderate to intense exercises so as to secure their brain health.
