Nearly everyone knows that exercise is good for us, but who would have thought that it can slow or even reverse the dreaded Alzheimer’s disease?

According to a study released at the 2008 International Conference on Alzheimer’s Disease, patients diagnosed with early Alzheimer’s disease who exercised regularly saw less deterioration in areas of the brain that control memory.

Mild Alzheimer’s disease patients with higher physical fitness had larger brains compared to those with lower physical fitness, according to a study published in the July issue of Neurology.

In the study, 121 people age 60 and older underwent fitness tests using a treadmill as well as brain scans to measure the white matter, gray matter and total volume of their brains.

Today, millions of older Americans are experiencing a higher quality of life by taking an active and positive approach to their personal wellness. They are enjoying improved health and successful living by becoming self-educated, personally responsible and proactive. The most successful are those who adopt a whole-person wellness model, addressing the needs of the body, mind and spirit.

Most people know about the research that shows that regular exercise provides a wide range of health benefits and, perhaps most important, can preserve function and independence. Fewer realize that their choice of exercise activity can produce another host of unexpected benefits. By choosing mind/body exercises, such as yoga or soft martial arts (like Chi Gung and T’ai Chi), older adults can unleash even greater health and vitality.

Joanne’s mother, Betty, had rheumatoid arthritis for years. Suddenly and unexpectedly, Betty was disabled by the pain, fatigue and limited mobility that she had feared since her diagnosis.

Joanne convinced her fiercely independent mother that living alone was no longer an option. And Joanne, the eldest of four children, knew that caring for her sick mother fell on her shoulders. Joanne was a legend in the circles of her family, friends and colleagues for her ability to act with grace under pressure.

Joanne took two weeks of vacation from her job and cooked and froze meals for her husband and three children. As she flew to her hometown, she wondered how she would coordinate her mother’s care from a distance. Supporting her husband as he built his new business, nurturing her kids and directing a major project at work already made her feel that she was running on empty.

Complementary medicine – or what used to be called alternative medicine – is gaining more acceptance as an option for people with arthritis. A recent study showed that Whole-body Swedish massage proved safe and effective in reducing pain and improving function in osteoarthritis of the knee.

 

Osteoarthritis is a chronic condition that affects 21 million Americans and causes more physical limitation than lung disease, heart disease and diabetes mellitus, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Conventional treatment for knee osteoarthritis includes pain medication, exercises, hot and cold therapy, corticosteroid injections, and, eventually, surgery to repair the joint. Many forms of complementary therapy including yoga, herbal therapies, chiropractic, acupuncture, and others have also demonstrated effectiveness in treating osteoarthritis.

The common spice, turmeric, may lead to a cure for Alzheimer’s Disease.

Turmeric is one spice, besides curry, that contains a phytochemical called curcumin, which shows possible treatment for Alzheimer’s and other aging diseases.

Tests done by scientists at UCLA show that large doses of curcumin can prevent the Alzheimer’s plaques from forming. It can also break down existing plaques. In tests with mice, mice that ate curcumin had 85% fewer plaques than a control group that ate no curcumin.

In India, where curried food is eaten almost every day, Alzheimer’s among the elderly occurs in only one percent of the population, as compared to 4.4 percent in the U.S.