On April 22, 2017, the New Haven Register reported on 1995 AFAR Research Grant recipient, Christopher van Dyck, MD and his team’s research on the effect physical activity has on slowing the progression of Alzheimer’s disease symptoms.
The article, Yale seeks participants for study of exercise’s effects on Alzheimer’s, details a phase three study observing the correlation between exercise and cognitive abilities. The study will consist of two groups of 300 sedentary adults between the ages of 65 and 89 years old. For four days a week over an 18-month period, one group will perform aerobic exercises, and the other will stretch and perform balancing and range of motion exercises.
Dr. van Dyck revealed his motivation for the study is the limited research on the relationship between physical activity and Alzheimer’s disease. He comments: “There are a few things that have always been noted in people who get Alzheimer’s and those who don’t. It appears that those who age without developing the disease tend to be people who stay active.”
The full article can be viewed here.
Christopher van Dyck, MD is a Professor of Psychiatry, Neurology, and Neuroscience; a Director of Alzheimer's Disease Research Unit; a Director of the Yale Alzheimer's Disease Research Center; and a Director of the Division of Aging and Geriatric Psychiatry at the Yale School of Medicine.
For more information on exercise research, we encourage you to read 2011 AFAR Research Grant for Junior Faculty recipient, Ian R. Lanza’s, PhD research on how interval exercise improves muscle cells, recognized in a related feature story in The New York Times here.
