Reduce the risk of dementia
Heathline.com reports that exercise may be protecting people from experiencing the symptoms of dementia. The article highlights the significance of aerobic exercise - the type of exercise that raises your heart rate and stimulates your cardio-vascular system. Walking is a form of aerobic exercise and can therefore be a method of warding off brain deterioration.
Aerobic exercise gets the blood pumping and carrying oxygen to the brain. This can have positive effects on brain cell growth and repair. If the brain continues to repair and grow, neural degeneration can be minimised, which prevents the onset of the symptoms associated with dementia. Studies have shown that better cardio-vascular health can reduce the risk of dementia and the key is to exercise regularly.
Exercise can be good for blood flow both directly and indirectly. It directly increases a person’s breathing rate, which oxygenates their blood more efficiently. Then, as mentioned, the heart pumps faster, supplying the brain with more oxygen. Moving your body even pumps blood without help from the heart. When you walk, the contraction of your calf muscles squeezes the blood vessels in your legs, forcing blood back up your body towards the heart.
Indirectly, exercise is the best way to lose weight. Being overweight causes health problems that can restrict the blood vessels, making it harder for blood to get to important areas of the body like the brain. People who exercise regularly are less likely to have a heart attack or stroke; health problems that have a strong link to the sudden onset of dementia. Furthermore, exercise is a great way to keep your blood pressure at moderate levels. A study conducted in 2018 revealed the link between high blood pressure and dementia.
Aerobic exercise is even more beneficial than other forms of exercise - like stretching - as it reduces the rate of atrophy in a part of the brain called the hippocampus. This is even the case in people who are already experiencing the symptoms of dementia. This is not to say that stretching doesn’t also help; when it comes to dementia, all forms of exercise are beneficial. Rather, aerobic exercise seems to have additional benefits compared with other techniques.
Walking in Virtual Reality with the help of the ROVR treadmill may help you to mitigate the onset of dementia. Neural degeneration is common in people that find themselves housebound following a health problem or sudden accident. Because the ROVR is compact enough to be operated in the living room, the user can get their exercise without having to over extend themselves by going outdoors for a walk. Using a VR headset, the user can explore stimulating environments as they walk. This keeps the brain active along with the body, and is a lot more entertaining than using a regular mechanical treadmill. What’s more, with no motorised parts, the ROVR allows the user to move at their own pace. You can spend as long as you need to getting your daily exercise.