How physical activity helps the elderly stay sharp

Older adults who regularly engage in moderate to vigorous physical activity perform better in mental tasks as they are more flexible in terms of brain functions, a new study says.
The findings could soon help doctors determine how physically active you are simply by imaging your brain.
"We looked at 100 adults between the ages of 60 and 80, and we used accelerometres to objectively measure their physical activity over a week," said one of the lead researchers Agnieszka Burzynska, professor at Colorado State University in the US.
The researchers also used functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to observe how blood oxygen levels changed in the brain over time, reflecting each participant`s brain activity at rest.
They evaluated the microscopic integrity of each person`s white-matter fibers, which carry nerve impulses and interconnect the brain.
"We found that spontaneous brain activity showed more moment-to-moment fluctuations in the more-active adults," Burzynska noted.
"In a previous study, we showed that in some of the same regions of the brain, those people who have higher brain variability also performed better on complex cognitive tasks, especially on intelligence tasks and memory," Burzynska pointed out.
The researchers also found that, on average, older adults who were more active had better white-matter structure than their less-active peers.
The new findings were reported in the journal PLOS ONE.

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Develop close friendships to stay fit

Developing close friendships early in life may help children stay physically fit later in their adulthood, suggests new research.
"These results indicate that remaining close to -- as opposed to separating oneself -- from the peer pack in adolescence has long-term implications for adult physical health," said one of the researchers Joseph Allen from University of Virginia in the US.
"In this study, it was a robust predictor of increased long-term physical health quality," Allen noted.
The findings indicate that adolescent relationship qualities may come to influence adult health through decreased levels of later anxiety and depressive symptoms.
The researchers recruited a diverse group of 171 seventh- and eighth-graders and followed them from ages 13 through 27 years old.
From ages 13 through 17, the participants' best friend filled out a questionnaire assessing the overall quality of the friendship, including the degree of trust, communication, and alienation in the relationship.
Friends also provided information about how much participants' focused on fitting in with their peers.
Participants' health quality was then assessed annually at ages 25, 26, and 27 years old with questions about their overall health, anxiety and depression symptoms, and body mass index.
Results indicated that both high-quality close friendships and a drive to fit in with peers in adolescence were associated with better health at age 27.
The study was published in the journal Psychological Science.

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And you thought `guilting` teens into exercise works out

A new study has suggested that trying to guilt middle-schoolers into exercising won't get them to be any more active.
The University of Georgia researchers found that the students who don't feel in control of their exercise choices or who feel pressured by adults to be more active typically aren't.
Middle-schoolers who feel they can make their own decisions about exercising are more likely to see themselves as a person who exercises, which in turn makes them more likely to exercise.
Lead author Rod Dishman said that this age is a critical juncture in a child's life, as kids typically decrease their activity levels by 50 percent between fifth and sixth grades.
The results confirm that the beliefs these kids hold are related to physical activity levels, Dishman noted, adding "but can we put these children in situations where they come to value and enjoy the act of being physically active?"
Dishman and colleagues at the University of South Carolina are now looking at ways to help kids identify with exercise at a younger age, so that by the time they reach middle school they are more likely to identify as someone who exercises.
This might mean teaching more structured games in elementary school, integrating physical activities into classroom lessons or expanding community recreational leagues to give kids more opportunities to improve on a particular sport.
What parents and teachers don't want to create, Dishman cautioned, is a sense of guilt for not exercising. The research overwhelmingly found that students who felt obligated to be more active were less likely to embrace activity overall.
Dishman pointed out that the best thing is to do it because it's fun and it's the kids who say they are intrinsically motivated who are more active than the kids who aren't.
The study appears in the journal Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise.

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How you keep balance while jogging

Do you know why a jogger does not feel dizzy or lose balance while a roller-coaster rider can find his or her head spinning with no control over the abrupt dips and swoops? The secret is hidden in the sensory hair cells in your inner ear.
The reason for the difference lies in the vestibular organ (VO) located in the inner ear, which controls balance and posture, researchers have reported.
The VO senses ongoing self-motion and ensures that, while running, the jogger unconsciously compensates for the accompanying changes in the orientation of the head.
The team from University of Bordeaux in France and Ludwig-Maximilians-University (LMU) of Munich in Germany revealed that cells in the spinal cord which generate the rhythmic patterns of neural and muscle activity required for locomotion also adaptively alter the sensitivity of the hair cells in the VO.
It enables them to respond appropriately to the broad range of incoming signal amplitudes.
"We are not really aware of what movement actually involves because our balance organs react immediately to alterations in posture and head position,” said neurobiologist Boris Chagnaud from LMU.
The hair cells, which detect the resulting changes in fluid flow in the semicircular canals in the inner ear, enable us to keep our balance without any conscious effort, he explained.
The capacity to adapt and respond appropriately to both slight and substantial displacements of the head in turn implies that the sensory hair cells in the inner ear can react to widely varying stimulus intensities.
The whole adaptation process is controlled by neurons in the spinal cord, which transmit signals to the VO via nerve cells just before the muscles carry out the next locomotory behaviour.
These signals thus notify the VO in advance about the temporal form of the impending movement.
The team now intends to study whether all the hair cells in the inner ear also respond to efferent information emanating from the spinal cord.
The results were reported in the online journal Nature Communications.

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Exercise may help preserve mental sharpness in oldies

A new study has revealed about the connection between fitness level, brain activity and executive function in older adults.
The new study from a team at the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology at the University of Illinois found that dual-task processing in a core executive function brain region is associated with higher cardiorespiratory fitness and dual-task performance.
First author Chelsea Wong said that previous studies have shown that there's a relationship between cardiorespiratory fitness and behavioral performance in older adults, adding that other studies have looked at cardiorespiratory fitness and brain function, but really linking all three of those hasn't been quite been done as explicitly as they did in this paper.
The team, led by Art Kramer, examined brain imaging and fitness level data from 128 adults between the ages of 59-80.
With functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scans gathered in the Beckman Institute's Biomedical Imaging Center, the researchers found that certain regions of the brain were activated more when performing two simultaneous tasks compared to a single task.
The team found the overall relationship between cardiorespiratory fitness levels and higher executive function may be partially explained through activation in a region of the brain called the anterior cingulate cortex and the supplementary motor area (ACC/SMA).
Kramer noted that this research adds to their growing understanding of the relationship among physical activity and cognitive and brain function--and suggests that people can improve the brain health by changing their lifestyle even as they age.
The study is published in Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience.

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Fitness or weight loss: Which is better?

Weight loss. These two words have a kind of mystifying power over the entire world. It probably even reminded you that you missed your morning walk today or skipped your gym class.

If there's one thing that everyone thinks about practically everyday, it's about how they can shed those extra kilos or lose that ever-persistent belly fat.

But have you ever stopped for minute and thought about being fit rather than slim? Got you thinking, didn't it? You may be slim, but are you fit and healthy?

Fitness, many people may not be aware, is more important than losing weight. Fitness is more than just staying slim. It is a result of healthy diet and exercise, and overall good health.

Being slim may not necessarily mean that you're fit. Therefore, it's high time you changed your goal from losing weight to getting fit!

Below, we bring you a few benefits of staying fit and why it holds more value than just simply losing weight.

1. Fitness:

The most essential thing for you to know is that while fitness will most definitely result in weight loss, vice versa isn't true. Weight loss cannot ensure fitness. You can lose weight even in an unhealthy way. Fitness involves everything good. You need to exercise, ensure appropriate rest, and eat healthy to achieve your fitness goal.

2. Improved digestion:

Weight loss may often harm your digestion. A change in diet can cause bloating, bodily changes and discomfort. Exercise can also help you avoid digestive problems. Even easy-to-do exercises like breathing, walking, and other physical activities can improve your digestive system. A general fitness routine worked out through proper balanced diet and exercise for improved digestive function can be done.

3. Health benefits:

Fitness results in healthy respiratory and circulatory systems. Overall fitness gives you healthy skin, alertness and a healthy system. While weight loss may be bad for your health and respiratory system, regular exercise and a healthy diet aids the heart in the smooth circulation of blood and oxygen.

4. Better lymphatic system:

Your lymphatic system is also a part of the circulatory system, comprising a network that provides better flow of fluid called lymph which improves circulation, reduces swelling, metabolism and flexibility. Basic exercises like strength training and stretching can improve the lymphatic system.

5. Healthy heart:

Another benefit of preferring fitness over weight loss, is a healthier cardiovascular system. A person deprived of exercise has a higher risk of cardiovascular problems like heart attack and stroke. Weight loss through dieting or an overdose of exercising may do more harm than good.

6. Mental health:

Physical fitness means a healthy body and more than that, it means a healthy mind. Physical fitness is connected to your mental health in every way possible.  Every physical activity makes the brain agile, sharp and alert. Mental fitness is as crucial as physical health and weight loss may result in fatigue and depression, which puts the brain under unwanted pressure.

7. Attractive personality:

Exercise improves your muscles and hence, your overall personality. You can do everything in a better way. Weight loss ignores your body's actual needs and therefore you lose your personality as well.

So make fitness the key to your happiness!

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Top five exercises for healthy ageing!

Physical activity, exercise and fitness – the benefits of all these terms are endless – from reducing your risk of several diseases to keeping your youth intact.

Yes, exercise is the key to staying young and fit. Although we know about the immense health benefits of exercise and physical activity, most of us are just either being lazy or don't have time to workout in this super busy schedule.

But think over it again, if you wish to retain that youthful, radiant look. You shouldn't find excuses to write off your workout – it's entirely within your graps and how you manage your time.

So instead of depending on anti-ageing products and services, protect yourself against the effects of ageing naturally and internally with a few movements.

Here are a few exercises that will help you stay younger and healthier:

Stay active: The best way to counter the effects of ageing on our bodies and minds is maintaining good fitness. Studies suggest that aslittle as 15 minutes of exercise a day may increase a person lifespan by as much as three years.

Walking: Studies show that adults over 65 who walk or exercise moderately reduce their risk of dementia by one-third.

Jogging: A study from the University of Colorado has shown that jogging or running can help protect against memory loss after an illness.

Tai Chi: Research has found that older people who do tai chi improved their balance and increased their senses of well-being. Tai chi prevents falls among seniors. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, falls are the leading cause of injury death and the most common cause of nonfatal injuries and hospital trauma admissions among people 65 or older.

Leg exercise: With age, you are more likely to experience swelling in the legs - a condition called peripheral edema – associated with ageing. Leg exercise can help reduce or prevent the swelling.

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