Staying Physically Active, Advises Your Santa Barbara Chiropractor, Is a “Smart” Idea

If you read my Santa Barbara chiropractic website blogs, then you already know I adhere to the philosophy that motion is life. Our body is designed to move, move, move; to walk, run, play, and dance! My “job” as a Santa Barbara Chiropractor is not only to get you out of pain, but to help you to keep your musculoskeletal system healthy and well-adjusted so that such movement is energizing and freeing rather than painful. Because I believe so strongly that lifelong movement is essential to our overall health as human beings, I’m always happy to offer new incentives to my patients and blog readers to get moving. A new study offers another good reason for everyone, but especially women, to get active and stay active. The study, published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, found that women who are physically active at any point over the course of their life, whether it is in their teen years, 30s, 40s, or  50+, maintain a lower risk of cognitive impairment later in life as compared to those women who are inactive.

Let’s face it, life these days has become a spectator sport for many people. Kids sit in front of the television or their computers — and so do adults! Business often demands it and, after a long day of sitting at the computer at the office, “relaxation” or “family time” frequently comes in the form of vegging in front of the TV. There is growing evidence to suggest that people (and in the case of this particularly study, women) who are physically active in mid-life and beyond have a lower chance of dementia, as well as the “more minor” forms of cognitive impairment in old age. However, until now there has been less clarity regarding the importance of physical activity for women early in life and at different stages of life. The researchers at Sunnybrook health Sciences Centre in Canada compared the physical activity and cognition of 9,344 women at different ages (teenage, age 30, age 50, and late-life) to investigate the effectiveness of activity at different life stages on later cognitive abilities.

“Our study shows that women who are regularly physically active at any age have lower risk of cognitive impairment than those who are inactive, but also that being physically active at teenage is most important in preventing cognitive impairment,” said Laura Middleton, PhD, who lead the research. And, in addition, she and her research team found that women who were physically inactive as teenagers, but became physically active at age 30 or age 50 had significantly reduced their odds of cognitive impairment as well compared to those who remained physically inactive. “Low physical activity levels in today’s youth may mean increased dementia rates in the future,” Middleton added.

What’s good for the body is always good for the brain. So be smart and stay that way by being physically active. “Motion is Life,” so get moving!

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