Open AccessEffects of Aerobic Exercise on Cognition and Activities of Daily Living in Alzheimer’s Disease: A Systematic Review
Author(s) -
Vívian Maria Gomes de Oliveira,
Cíntia Gonçalves Nogueira,
Gabriela Ferreira Paticcié,
Leonardo Oliveira Silva,
Igor Jacomedes de Oliveira,
Leopoldo Antônio Pires,
Luiz Paulo Bastos Vasconcelos,
Ana Laura Maciel Almeida
Publication year - 2021
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Conference proceedings
DOI - 10.5327/1516-3180.543
Subject(s) - dementia , cognition , aerobic exercise , alzheimer's disease , activities of daily living , disease , randomized controlled trial , medicine , neuroimaging , quality of life (healthcare) , physical medicine and rehabilitation , effects of sleep deprivation on cognitive performance , physical therapy , psychology , psychiatry , nursing
Background: Alzheimer’s disease (AD) represents one of the main causes of cognitive and functional decline in the world. Concomitant with pharmacological treatment, the practice of aerobic exercises (AE) can help in the symptomatic control of the disease. Objectives: To evaluate the effects of AE on activities of daily living and cognition in patients with AD. Methods: A systematic review was undertaken. EMBASE, Pubmed and BVS databases were searched using the terms “Alzheimer disease”, “Alzheimer syndrome” and “Alzheimer dementia”; “aerobic” and “exercise”. The inclusion criteria were: randomized controlled trials from 2016 to 2021, English language studies and human studies. Among 854 studies found, six were included in the review. Results: The potential benefits of AE training in AD patients are: improvement of functioning, quality of life and cognitive performance; better control of neuropsychiatric symptoms and possible reduction of systemic inflammation. Conclusions: AEs are associated with cognitive and functional performance gain in AD, probably related to synaptic plasticity optimization and improvement of the feeling of well-being. Although AEs may improve cognitive and neuropsychiatric symptoms, the response to treatment is individual. Future longitudinal studies with larger cohorts and functional neuroimaging studies are required for a better understanding of the real benefit of AE in AD.