Exercise Proven To Have ‘Significant Role’ In Reducing Risk Of This Terrible Disease

Finally, it’s official!!

We now have a rock solid vindication of something we have personally been advocating for more than a decade.

Maintaining a healthy and active lifestyle plays a significant role in reducing the risk of developing dementia in later years.

The benefits of maintaining regular physical activity throughout life is something I have personally witnessed the untold benefits of first-hand in the past 23 years of coaching, as well as being a commonplace side effect as evidenced by countless anecdotal evidence given by other top coaches around the world.

The human body has not evolved to be a sedentary, inert organism. It is a perfect machine in need of dynamic movement in order to function optimally.

Our ancestors toiled the land, growing their own crops in the backbreaking sun and the bleak rain. And, earlier than that, they chased after, ran down, and killed our food in order to eat and survive.

So, our body is built to move. It’s definitely not made to sit in front of a screen under fluorescent lights for hours on end.

A lazy body will become a diseased body. Inaction is the perfect enemy of our physiology, eating at us from the inside out.

The epitome of the silent killer.

However, we now have undeniable backup from the scientific community, which has finally caught up and is acknowledging what top trainers have known for ages.

 

THE CARDIFF STUDY

The evidence supporting the incredible benefits of a healthy lifestyle has emerged from a landmark Cardiff study spanning 35 years, which began with 2,235 men back in 1979.

The purpose of the study was to record their behaviour in relation to their health over that period, initially focusing on the causes of heart disease, which was particularly high in the area.

As time went on, the study moved to looking at the effects of dementia and strokes.

The Cardiff University pinpointed 5 main causative factors linked to the onset of the disease.

These included:

• Exercise
• Smoking
• Bodyfat levels
• Diet
• Alcohol intake

Indisputably, the single most influential factor affecting the onset of dementia has been found to be exercise.

The study found that people who applied 4 of these variables in a positive manner had a staggering 60% decline in cognitive erosion rates and dementia – with exercise being at the forefront as the strongest mitigating factor.

In addition – and check this out – they also had 70% fewer instances of heart disease diabetes and stroke, compared with people who followed none of the indicated variables.

Led by Professor Peter Elwood, on behalf of the Cardiff School of Medicine, the study highlighted the finding that healthy behaviour was far more beneficial than any preventative procedure or medical treatment.

“The size of reduction in the instance of disease owing to these simple healthy steps has really amazed us and is of enormous importance in an ageing population,” he said.

He did admit, however, that the decision to take up a healthy lifestyle was an entirely individual choice.

Something that I can sadly confirm from over two decades of coaching people – you just cannot force or coerce people into taking up a healthy lifestyle.

And, despite all the benefits, most don’t.

Professor Elwood confirms this. “Sadly, the evidence from this study shows that very few people follow a fully healthy lifestyle.”

While a focus on one facet of the 5 causative factors can have more effect on certain diseases than others, the emphasis was on a more complete and healthy way of life.

“Exercise happens to be the most important factor, but the others come in close behind,” Professor Elwood added.

The recommended exercise routines were 30 min sessions, five times a week.

The study showed that while smoking levels had declined somewhat, only 1% of the population engaged in a fully active lifestyle.

The study could not be more emphatic on the necessity of maintaining a daily exercise routine and the untold benefits to be reaped from this.

Prof Elwood stated: “If the men had been urged to adopt just one additional healthy behaviour at the start of the study 35 years ago, and if only half of them complied, then during the ensuing 35 years there would have been a 13% reduction in dementia, a 12% drop in diabetes, 6% less vascular disease and a 5% reduction in deaths.”

 

THE MALTA CONNECTION

Ok fair enough. So now we have scientific backup for at least two things we have known and insisted on for a very long time.

First, it is far more important to prevent rather than cure.

Second, exercise can play a far more important role than medication.

Dementia is no stranger to Malta. With a recorded 5,200 sufferers in 2010, this figure is expected to hit 10,000 in 2030 and 14,000 by 2060.

That is, unless we do something pro-active about it – right NOW!

Unfortunately, in Malta, we still keep insisting on the provision of a disease management system rather than a true health care system.

Our system is based on fixing the damage after it happens, rather than preventing it from happening in the first place.

Preventative action should really be the foundation of our health care structure.

This is where smart thinking and innovation will not only save the country millions of euros per year – but way more importantly, it will also save future dementia patients and their families the debilitating indignity of this disease.

The role of a healthy lifestyle is highlighted even more when recent studies, such as those by the Cochrane Collaboration, are showing that exercise is also beneficial to people who already suffer from dementia.

Exercise improves cognition and brain function even when the disease already has taken a grip.

So this is a win-win situation, any which way you look at it.

With the spotlight now pointed on dementia in Malta, this is absolutely the time to make positive changes happen.

I insist on a complete shift to preventative care, in addition to simply a treatment based system for those afflicted by this condition.

Medication will never be the cure for dementia.

I propose that a system of engaging the population in an effective exercise scheme be set up as part of our National Dementia strategy.

This will save the country millions of euros per year in health care and will be a significantly more effective approach than a pharmaceutical remedial scheme.

However, any program put into place needs to be built around a system of engagement, rather than an information overload system.

It is a well known fact that most people will automatically ignore information and only respond to engagement where exercise is concerned.

Which makes it all the more puzzling why the current system would stick to simple information dispensing, when we already know this will just NOT give the results we need.

At The BodyForge, we have refined our communication with our clients over 2 decades of interaction, and we can confidently say that we have an engagement system second to none.

Our clients respond very well to our methods. Because we prepare the clients way before we ever engage them, which increases acquiescence exponentially.

In addition, we take the mental and the emotional approach, to complement the physical one. A three pronged approach that leaves no stone unturned.

And this is the way to get people to commit to exercise. Because people will come for the results, but stay for the experience.

We hope that our call for a collaboration finds fertile ground.

We are looking forward to discussions with the relevant parties, to share our knowledge and our systems with them, so we can do something worthwhile for our country.

In the meantime, keep rocking it, everyone.

Being active will literally save your lives.

 

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