Julie Sullivan 10-14-10 Oct. 14--Kathleen Brown steps into the October sun in a green T-shirt and size 2 denim shorts, her Nikes laced. And if you want to remember that sequence -- or this story -- you might want to do what she does next. Brown walks. Twice a day, she heads out into her Cedar Hills neighborhood, a habit that has kept her, a month shy of 75, trim, relaxed and requiring no medication. Now, a new study published Wednesday in the journal of the American Academy of Neurology says walking may also save her from dementia. Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh who studied people in their mid-60s over 13 years found that those who walked six to nine miles a week -- about a mile a day -- had more gray matter and less memory loss than their peers. Gray matter is the part of the brain involved in muscle control, seeing, speaking, hearing and memory. The relationship between walking earlier in life and having more brain volume later in life was so robust "it astonished us," said author Kirk I. Erickson, a professor of psychology at the University of Pittsburgh. "Physical activity improves your brain and spares your brain." Researchers studied the number of blocks that 1,479 people in their mid-60s walked a week. After nine years, they conducted brain scans on 299 of the subjects who had no sign of dementia. Four years later, they repeated the scans. They found that 4 in 10 had developed dementia or cognitive impairment. But those who reported walking at least 72 blocks a week had less decline and they performed the best on standard memory tests. Those who walked the most had cut their risk of developing memory problems in half. Erickson said regular exercise should become a public health imperative. The National Institute on Aging funded the study, and researchers hope to study whether physical activity can reverse or treat some of the loss. Brown began walking in the 1970s to combat a back problem. After she retired from the telephone company in 1992, she found herself sitting around in sweat pants with an expandable waistband. First, she put on a pair of jeans to force herself to pay attention to her waist size. Then to stay active, the grandmother and widow began driving three days a week for Meals-on-Wheels. She eventually started walking daily -- in the rain, in the winter, and four years ago, began walking 45 minutes twice a day. "I find that when I'm walking I can solve all my problems," she says. "And I feel better than I have in my whole life." -- Julie Sullivan
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The Raelian Movement
for those who are not afraid of the future : http://www.rael.org
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Source: http://www.lef.org/news/LefDailyNews.htm?NewsID=10294&Section=AGING&source=DHB_101015&key=Body+Title
Prime of life: Forget thinner thighs, new study shows walking protects brain size, saves memory
The Oregonian, Portland, Ore.
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WARNING FROM RAEL: For those who don't use their intelligence at its full capacity, the label "selected by RAEL" on some articles does not mean that I agree with their content or support it. "Selected by RAEL" means that I believe it is important for the people of this planet to know about what people think or do, even when what they think or do is completely stupid and against our philosophy. When I selected articles in the past about stupid Christian fundamentalists in America praying for rain, I am sure no Rael-Science reader was stupid enough to believe that I was supporting praying to change the weather. So, when I select articles which are in favor of drugs, anti-semitic, anti-Jewish, racist, revisionist, or inciting hatred against any group or religion, or any other stupid article, it does not mean that I support them. It just means that it is important for all human beings to know about them. Common sense, which is usually very good among our readers, is good enough to understand that. When, like in the recent articles on drug decriminalization, it is necessary to make it clearer, I add a comment, which in this case was very clear: I support decriminalizing all drugs, as it is stupid to throw depressed and sad people (as only depressed and sad people use drugs) in prison and ruin their life with a criminal record. That does not mean that there is any change to the Message which says clearly that we must not use any drug except for medical purposes. The same applies to the freedom of expression which must be absolute. That does not mean again of course that I agree with anti-Jews, antisemites, racists of any kind or anti-Raelians. But by knowing your enemies or the enemies of your values, you are better equipped to fight them. With love and respect of course, and with the wonderful sentence of the French philosopher Voltaire in mind: "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it".
"Ethics" is simply a last-gasp attempt by deist conservatives and
orthodox dogmatics to keep humanity in ignorance and obscurantism,
through the well tried fermentation of fear, the fear of science and
new technologies.
There is nothing glorious about what our ancestors call history,
it is simply a succession of mistakes, intolerances and violations.
On the contrary, let us embrace Science and the new technologies
unfettered, for it is these which will liberate mankind from the
myth of god, and free us from our age old fears, from disease,
death and the sweat of labour.
Rael
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