Regular physical exercise has many benefits for a person's health and wellbeing. Physical exercise helps keep a person fit, strong, athletic and agile. A new study shows that there are other surprising benefits of regular exercise.
A new study conducted by a research team at the University of Miami and published in the Journal of the American Academy of Neurology shows that physical exercise can help slow down the mental decline of older people by 10 years, UPI reports. The 12-year study found that the research participants who had very little physical activity had a greater mental decline when compared to physically active participants.
The study involved almost 900 participants with an average age of 71-years-old. The researchers assessed the cognitive abilities and the physical activity levels of the participants for several years.
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"Physical activity is an attractive option to reduce the burden of cognitive impairment in public health because it is low cost and doesn't interfere with medications," University of Miami associate professor Dr. Clinton Wright said in a press release. "Our study showed that for older people, getting regular exercise may be protective, helping them keep their cognitive abilities longer."
One of the best physical exercises that can improve a person's mental health is running. "It's thought that exercise stimulates the production of a brain protein called Noggin, which drives the production of neurogenesis and stem cells. Running increases the brain's ability to grow new cells, and the more miles that you run, the more new brain cells you can grow," Livestrong shares.
Even younger people can get the many benefits of regular exercise. Physical exercise can help improve a person's blood circulation; promote greater supply of oxygen and glucose to the brain; brighten up a person's mood; prevent depression; improve memory; and strengthen the immune system to fight off diseases and infections, according to Livestrong.
