Can exercise training teach us how to treat Alzheimer's disease?

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common cause of dementia and there is currently no cure. Novel approaches to treat AD and curb the rapidly increasing worldwide prevalence and costs of dementia are needed. Physical inactivity is a significant modifiable risk factor for AD, estimated to contribute to 12.7% of AD cases worldwide. Exercise interventions in humans and animals have shown beneficial effects of exercise on brain plasticity and cognitive functions. In animal studies, exercise also improved AD pathology. The mechanisms underlying these effects of exercise seem to be associated mainly with exercise performance or cardiorespiratory fitness. In addition, exercise-induced molecules of peripheral origin seem to play an important role. Since exercise affects the whole body, there likely is no single therapeutic target that could mimic all the benefits of exercise. However, systemic strategies may be a viable means to convey broad therapeutic effects in AD patients. Here, we review the potential of physical activity and exercise training in AD prevention and treatment, shining light on recently discovered underlying mechanisms and concluding with a view on future development of exercise-free treatment strategies for AD.

Automated summary

Alzheimer's disease is the most common cause of dementia with no cure currently available. Physical inactivity contributes to a significant portion of AD cases worldwide, but exercise has shown beneficial effects on brain plasticity and cognitive functions, as well as improvements in AD pathology in animal studies. The mechanisms behind these effects are mainly associated with exercise performance and cardiorespiratory fitness, as well as exercise-induced molecules of peripheral origin. Since exercise affects the whole body, there is unlikely to be a single therapeutic target that can mimic all the benefits of exercise, but systemic strategies may convey broad therapeutic effects in AD patients.