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"Scientists researching possible candidates for treating Alzheimer's disease found exercise outperformed all tested drugs for the ability to reverse dysregulate

"Scientists researching possible candidates for treating Alzheimer's disease found exercise outperformed all tested drugs for the ability to reverse dysregulated gene expression." https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-022-22179-z https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-022-22179-z "High fitness in middle age reduces the chance of dementia by ninety percent" https://www.ergo-log.com/high-fitness-in-middle-age-reduces-chance-of-dementia-by-ninety-percent.html https://www.ergo-log.com/high-fitness-in-middle-age-reduces-...

m463 4y ago
also saunas.
JamesBarney 4y ago
They don't know high fitness reduces chances of dementia they just know it's associated with it. I imagine people who are naturally healthier probably more fit and less demented.
steve_adams_86 4y ago
Not to be pedantic, but the number appears to be (up to) 88%, and the study involved women only. Incredible results but I think the specifics are worth using when they’re available. Also, there is no cause and effect here, though vascular origin dementia as noted seems almost certainly to be reduced by better cardiovascular fitness, as are many other vascular issues. Having said that, vascular and arterial lining damage due to diet appears not to be resolved by exercise, and could very easily be a culprit here as well. Fitness is a great tool for general well-being, but it doesn’t appear to be the singular cause of increased wellness here.
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
- siftrics 4y ago
  That is a ludicrous take. If exercise reduced risk of dementia by 99% would you still feel compelled to point out that it "doesn't appear to be the singular cause of increased wellness"? Where's your threshold? We literally have the solution. What you're saying, while it is technically true, seems to be more of an excuse or justification not to exercise. Perhaps I'm reading too much into your comment.
  - steve_adams_86 4y ago
    I think you are reading into it too much, but I think you also might be missing that fit people may tend to make a LOT of different decisions in life than less fit people. This is something I’ve been digging deep into and discovering a lot of seemingly safe assumptions turn out not to be. I do expect exercise is a major factor here (perhaps the largest), but I’m acutely aware lately that these things, especially where nutrition could be a significant factor, are rarely ever cut and dry. It’s incredibly complex. I don’t mean to say people shouldn’t exercise. I should have emphasized that, without a doubt. We know beyond any shadow of doubt that it improves quality of life dramatically for virtually everyone.
  - naasking 4y ago
    Correlation is not causation. Even if exercise were associated with a 99% risk reduction, it could remain the case that people who are prone to Alzheimer's are less motivated to exercise early in life rather than the exercise preventing Alzheimer's later in life. There are plenty of other good reasons to exercise, we don't have to stretch this one beyond what the data says.
ericmcer 4y ago
I hate this because I want to believe technology and AI and will result in modern medicine where everyone has long healthy lives. The reality that just eating right, sleeping and exercising is still our best health advice is humorous and disheartening.
- xwdv 4y ago
  That should be encouraging, not disheartening. The best methods for keeping healthy just involve easy simple things anyone could do for free everyday. That’s better than any dependence on shitty expensive drugs.
- heavyset_go 4y ago
  What is scary is that society is structured to ensure that many people can't get enough sleep, exercise and healthy meals.
  - bitL 4y ago
    Well, it has always been a "privilege" for a few.
- 90d 4y ago
  The only thing that is humorous and disheartening is that your outlook is shared by the majority and for this, we are fucked. The inability of large corporations to best what is available to EVERY PERSON, for FREE, is a BLESSING. All these companies do is add layers of complexity or outright push a worse product and rely on changing public opinion or how info is perceived for sales. This is capitalism's kiss of death. Their goal is not healing, their goal is removal of symptoms where you will be held in perpetual subsistence. And we should never let that be forgotten. On a macro level if you want to improve your health : Less processed foods, less synthetic materials, less pharmaceuticals, less time sitting and indoors. Less alcohol, less weed, Less involvement from these "professionals" all across the board. Less, less, less. Wow, isn't that weird? For those who will comment for arguments sake, I would rather you provide examples of the sitting President promoting overall good health practices (read: FREE) rather than his usual gaslighting the public into taking an untested pharmaceutical product.
throwawaymaths 4y ago
> High fitness in middle age reduces the chance of dementia by ninety percent Not to be a sourpuss but I believe that a reasonable theory on this is that physical activity, especially activity that uses brain power, causes neuronal development which reroutes function around damage, without necessarily preventing or mitigating damage itself.
- SamBam 4y ago
  Rerouting is mitigating. If the end result is lack of dementia, that's what's important. The fact that some percentage of the neurons are damaged is not a problem. The elasticity of the brain is an evolved trait, rerouting is what the brain does to keep working.
  - throwawaymaths 4y ago
    Well no. Is it not obvious that if you could prevent the damage that would be better than patching it over?
    - kupopuffs 4y ago
      Depends on what negative effects actually manifest
- _a_a_a_ 4y ago
  Physical surely helps but the theory of cognitive reserve suggests heavy brain use may build up a reserve of extra connections which insulate one somewhat from brain loss. I can't quote selectively as it's a big chunk of text, but here <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_reserve https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_reserve>
bawolff 4y ago
Pretty easy to out-perform something that doesn't work.
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
DoreenMichele 4y ago
Exercise increases the rate at which the body "takes out the trash." https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33935866 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33935866

m463 4y ago

also saunas.

JamesBarney 4y ago

They don't know high fitness reduces chances of dementia they just know it's associated with it. I imagine people who are naturally healthier probably more fit and less demented.

steve_adams_86 4y ago

Not to be pedantic, but the number appears to be (up to) 88%, and the study involved women only. Incredible results but I think the specifics are worth using when they’re available. Also, there is no cause and effect here, though vascular origin dementia as noted seems almost certainly to be reduced by better cardiovascular fitness, as are many other vascular issues. Having said that, vascular and arterial lining damage due to diet appears not to be resolved by exercise, and could very easily be a culprit here as well. Fitness is a great tool for general well-being, but it doesn’t appear to be the singular cause of increased wellness here.

deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
siftrics 4y ago
That is a ludicrous take. If exercise reduced risk of dementia by 99% would you still feel compelled to point out that it "doesn't appear to be the singular cause of increased wellness"? Where's your threshold? We literally have the solution. What you're saying, while it is technically true, seems to be more of an excuse or justification not to exercise. Perhaps I'm reading too much into your comment.
- steve_adams_86 4y ago
  I think you are reading into it too much, but I think you also might be missing that fit people may tend to make a LOT of different decisions in life than less fit people. This is something I’ve been digging deep into and discovering a lot of seemingly safe assumptions turn out not to be. I do expect exercise is a major factor here (perhaps the largest), but I’m acutely aware lately that these things, especially where nutrition could be a significant factor, are rarely ever cut and dry. It’s incredibly complex. I don’t mean to say people shouldn’t exercise. I should have emphasized that, without a doubt. We know beyond any shadow of doubt that it improves quality of life dramatically for virtually everyone.
- naasking 4y ago
  Correlation is not causation. Even if exercise were associated with a 99% risk reduction, it could remain the case that people who are prone to Alzheimer's are less motivated to exercise early in life rather than the exercise preventing Alzheimer's later in life. There are plenty of other good reasons to exercise, we don't have to stretch this one beyond what the data says.

ericmcer 4y ago

I hate this because I want to believe technology and AI and will result in modern medicine where everyone has long healthy lives. The reality that just eating right, sleeping and exercising is still our best health advice is humorous and disheartening.

xwdv 4y ago
That should be encouraging, not disheartening. The best methods for keeping healthy just involve easy simple things anyone could do for free everyday. That’s better than any dependence on shitty expensive drugs.
heavyset_go 4y ago
What is scary is that society is structured to ensure that many people can't get enough sleep, exercise and healthy meals.
- bitL 4y ago
  Well, it has always been a "privilege" for a few.
90d 4y ago
The only thing that is humorous and disheartening is that your outlook is shared by the majority and for this, we are fucked. The inability of large corporations to best what is available to EVERY PERSON, for FREE, is a BLESSING. All these companies do is add layers of complexity or outright push a worse product and rely on changing public opinion or how info is perceived for sales. This is capitalism's kiss of death. Their goal is not healing, their goal is removal of symptoms where you will be held in perpetual subsistence. And we should never let that be forgotten. On a macro level if you want to improve your health : Less processed foods, less synthetic materials, less pharmaceuticals, less time sitting and indoors. Less alcohol, less weed, Less involvement from these "professionals" all across the board. Less, less, less. Wow, isn't that weird? For those who will comment for arguments sake, I would rather you provide examples of the sitting President promoting overall good health practices (read: FREE) rather than his usual gaslighting the public into taking an untested pharmaceutical product.

throwawaymaths 4y ago

> High fitness in middle age reduces the chance of dementia by ninety percent Not to be a sourpuss but I believe that a reasonable theory on this is that physical activity, especially activity that uses brain power, causes neuronal development which reroutes function around damage, without necessarily preventing or mitigating damage itself.

SamBam 4y ago
Rerouting is mitigating. If the end result is lack of dementia, that's what's important. The fact that some percentage of the neurons are damaged is not a problem. The elasticity of the brain is an evolved trait, rerouting is what the brain does to keep working.
- throwawaymaths 4y ago
  Well no. Is it not obvious that if you could prevent the damage that would be better than patching it over?
  - kupopuffs 4y ago
    Depends on what negative effects actually manifest
_a_a_a_ 4y ago
Physical surely helps but the theory of cognitive reserve suggests heavy brain use may build up a reserve of extra connections which insulate one somewhat from brain loss. I can't quote selectively as it's a big chunk of text, but here <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_reserve https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_reserve>

bawolff 4y ago

Pretty easy to out-perform something that doesn't work.

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]

DoreenMichele 4y ago

Exercise increases the rate at which the body "takes out the trash." https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33935866 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33935866