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Exercise May Slow Alzheimer Brain Atrophy

KANSAS CITY, Kan., July 15 -- Staying fit may help keep Alzheimer's disease at bay, researchers here said.

Individuals with early-stage Alzheimer's disease and relatively high peak oxygen consumption during a treadmill test showed less brain atrophy than other early Alzheimer's disease patients who were less fit, reported Jeffrey M. Burns, M.D., of the University of Kansas, and colleagues in the July 15 issue of Neurology.

"To our knowledge this is the first study to demonstrate a direct relationship between cardiorespiratory fitness and measures of whole brain atrophy in Alzheimer's disease."