Regular exercise is not only good for memory as people age, but it also appears to help prevent the development of physical signs of Alzheimer's, in those who are at risk for the disease, says a study. "Our research shows that in a late-middle-age population at risk for Alzheimer's disease, physically active individuals experience fewer age-related alterations in biomarkers associated with the disease, as well as memory and cognitive functioning," said Ozioma Okonkwo, Assistant Professor at the University of Wisconsin.

For the results, the research team conducted three studies--in the first study, the researchers examined 317 participants enrolled in the Wisconsin Registry for Alzheimer's Prevention, an ongoing observational study of more than 1,500 people with a history of parents with probable Alzheimer's dementia. In the second study, researchers studied 95 people, also from the registry, who were given scores called polygenic risk scores, based on whether they possessed certain genes associated with Alzheimer's.