Regular exercise good for dementia patients: study

By Joene Hendry NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Regular daily exercise benefits elderly women with dementia and these benefits appear to accrue over time, researchers from the Republic of Korea report. Dr. Yi-Sub Kwak, assistant professor of sports medicine at Dong-Eui University in Busan, and colleagues compared daily functioning as well as mental and physical abilities of 30 women with senile dementia before and after half participated in a regular exercise program. Their findings, reported in the International Journal of Sports Medicine, suggest "regular exercise improves the mental and physical health in senile dementia," Kwak told Reuters Health. The researchers enlisted 15 women who were about 80 years old on average and had doctor-diagnosed dementia, to participate in 30 to 60 minutes of exercise 2 to 3 days each week for... [read full story]