User talk:If you exercise for an hour three times a week, your risk of dementia will drop
Sports Corporation's 'National Fitness 100' program Muscle-brain exercise for people over 65 years old Dementia prevention Free welfare effect Talk Talk
Participants in the 'National Physical Fitness 100 Stamina UP, Dementia Down' exercise program are happily exercising to the music while holding a pole. Participants sweated together three times a week for 60 minutes each time for 20 weeks.
The Korea Sports Promotion Foundation under the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism implemented the 'National Physical Fitness 100 Physical Strength UP, Dementia Down' exercise program for the first time this year. This project was conducted to develop and distribute a dementia prevention exercise program, considering that approximately 1 million people, or more than 10% of the approximately 9.5 million people aged 65 or older in Korea as of 2023, are dementia patients.
National Fitness 100 is a free sports welfare service for the public that measures and evaluates physical strength in a scientific manner and then provides exercise consultation and prescriptions to improve people's physical strength and health. As a result of a 20-week exercise program conducted in collaboration between the Korea Institute of Sports Policy and Science and Ajou University Hospital, the participants received positive reviews and dementia-related figures also improved.
At the National Fitness 100 Songpa Fitness Certification Center in Seoul, 57 men and women over 65 years of age were divided into an exercise group and a non-exercise group, and the exercise group was instructed to exercise 3 times a week for 60 minutes each time. The workout consisted of a warm-up, aerobic and muscle exercises, coordination exercises, brain exercises, and cool-down exercises. Music was included to stimulate interest, and equipment such as batons and bands was also used. This is in accordance with the World Health Organization (WHO) recommendation for a healthy life: ‘Practice moderate-intensity exercise for at least 150 minutes a week.’
Kwon Oh-don (74), a participant in the exercise group, said, “I always enjoyed exercising, but after participating in this program, I lost 4 kg. “An hour passed quickly as I moved my body to the music,” he said. Yang Gyeong-sook (65) said, “When I first came here, I couldn’t even stand properly with one foot up, but now I can stand up easily.”
As a result of the comprehensive test, the exercise group showed an improvement in overall physical strength compared to the non-exercise group, including a 12.4% improvement in lower body strength (5.9% decrease in the non-exercise group), while the ADAS-cog level, an assessment scale for Alzheimer's disease, also dropped from 16.8 before exercise to 14.1. This was a 16.1% improvement in cognitive ability, which was higher than the non-exercise group (14.6%). ADAS-cog is a cognitive ability evaluation method that determines dementia if the score is over 30.
Dr. Song Hong-seon of the National Institute of Science said, “In the exercise group, the interconnectivity of the cerebral prefrontal blood vessels was strong, but in the non-exercise group, it was almost absent. “This means that the exercise group effectively used their brains in the information processing process to solve problems,” he explained. If you exercise for more than 3 months, the capillaries in your brain increase by 30%. This is to supply blood to newly formed nerve cells under the influence of neurotransmitters produced through exercise. New nerve cells die without stimulation, but exercise is a good stimulant. Dr. Song said, “The results of this study suggest that long-term exercise among older people can prevent dementia by having a positive effect not only on physical health but also on brain health.” 19가이드03
