Exercise Proves Helpful for MS Patients
Exercise appears to protect the brains of people with multiple sclerosis, new study findings suggest. Researchers assessed fitness, cognitive function and brain structural changes in 21 women with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (MS). Patients who were classified as being highly fit [...]
Exercise appears to protect the brains of people with multiple sclerosis, new study findings suggest.
Researchers assessed fitness, cognitive function and brain structural changes in 21 women with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (MS).
Patients who were classified as being highly fit performed much better on cognitive function tests than less-fit patients. MRI scans also showed that higher levels of fitness were associated with greater volume of gray matter, which is linked to vital brain processing skills, and less damage in parts of the brain where MS-related deterioration occurs.
“We found that aerobic fitness has a protective effect on parts of the brain that are most affected by multiple sclerosis,” study lead author Ruchika Shaurya Prakash, an assistant professor of psychology at Ohio State University, said in a news release. “As a result, these fitter patients actually show better performance on tasks that measure processing speed.”
The researchers also found that fitter MS patients showed less deterioration of brain white matter, which are fibers that connect gray matter areas.
Source: MSN Health
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