Aerobic exercise in your 20s may protect the brain in middle age, with activities that maintain cardio fitness – such as running, swimming and cycling – leading to better thinking skills and memory 20 years on. [s]BBC News[/s] reports that, according to research published in [s]Neurology[/s], this adds to evidence that the brain benefits from good heart health. Researchers at the [b]University of Minnesota, Minneapolis[/b], tested almost 3,000 healthy people with an average age of 25. People who ran for longer on the treadmill performed better at tests of memory and thinking skills 25 years on, even after adjusting for factors such as smoking, diabetes and high cholesterol. Study author Dr David Jacobs said that a concept was emerging of total fitness, incorporating social, physical and mental aspects of health. 'It's really a total package of how your body is and the linkage of that entire package of performance – that's related to cognitive function many years later and in mid-life,' he said.
Meanwhile, walking may help boost immunity and reduce inflammation in kidney patients, a study in the [s]Journal of the American Society of Nephrology[/s] suggests. [s]Health24[/s] reports that according to a team led by Dr Joao Viana of [b]Loughborough University[/b] in England, a weakened immune system raises a person's odds for infection while an overactive immune system results in chronic inflammation that damages blood vessels and boosts heart disease risk. It's known that exercise can boost immunity and reduce inflammation, but there has been little research into these effects in kidney disease patients, the study authors noted. Walking seemed to increase the immune system's ability to fight infections while lowering inflammation.
[link url=http://www.bbc.com/news/health-26841988]Full BBC News report[/link]
[link url=http://www.neurology.org/content/early/2014/04/02/WNL.0000000000000310.short?sid=58762b28-5321-4e89-8976-6a25da2bffaf]Neurology abstract[/link]
[link url=http://www.health24.com/Fitness/News/Walking-may-reduce-inflammation-in-kidney-patients-20140404]Full Health24 report[/link]
[link url=http://jasn.asnjournals.org/content/early/2014/04/02/ASN.2013070702.abstract?sid=e0427dc3-cdf6-41b8-b286-764c706c7874]JASN abstract[/link]