Exercise Twice a Day Reduces Neuropsychiatric Symptoms in People with Dementia

A study at German Sport University Cologne and the LVR-Hospital published in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease found that a specialized exercise program alleviates neuropsychiatric symptoms like depression and anxiety in people with dementia, making life easier for caregivers as symptoms improve, reports Being Patient . With 70 subjects divided into an intervention group and a control group, the former spent two weeks in a "carousel-exercise" program that included four short exercise sessions performed twice a day. The controls attended table games for two hours a week plus their usual treatment. Participants in the carousel-exercise group exhibited significant improvements in neuropsychiatric symptoms, which reduced the perceived burden of their caregivers. German Sport University Cologne's Tim Fleiner said the carousel-exercise group's afternoon sessions were especially important, because while people with dementia are usually busy with hospital routines in the morning, their schedules slow down and their agitation increases in the afternoon and evening. "The aim is to create a non-pharmacological way" for alleviating dementia, he added.