Exercise Impact on Brain Vascular System

7-6-12: Greetings! Back from vacation and finally catching up on things. Going through my stack of journals, came across this article in the July issue (Vol 40 #3) of Exercise and Sport Sciences Reviews. It's one of the latest articles showing the positive impact of exercise on the brain, and how that seems to help with a variety of neurological issues, cognitive functions, etc.

Love this graphic that was included in the article which sums it up:

Check the ESSR link for the article online when it comes out, or e-mail me directly (emedina@epiclp.com) and I'd be happy to send you a PDF copy of the full article.

Note the increase of BDNF...that has been called the "Miracle Grow for the brain" because BDNF helps to grow NEW neurons!

 

Vitamin E for exercise? Study found that chronic aerobic exercise acts as an antioxidant while decreasing oxidative stress on the brain.

 

Bottomline: Regular PA and exercise is good for your brain! It will help you be smarter and help to reduce your risk of dementia, Alzheimer, and other neurological problems related to the NORMAL aging process of the brain (i.e. if you don't exercise, your brain will go through the typical aging process.)

Here's how they said it: "Exercise could well turn out to be the most convenient, practical, and cost-effective way to ameliorate age-related declines in cognition while mitigating other age-related diseases. These benefits have the potential to improve health with advancing age and to significantly reduce the anticipated and rapidly escalating costs associated with age-related cognitive impairment and dementia facing our aging society."