MINNEAPOLIS Regular exercise could reduce the risk of contracting Alzheimer's disease, say U.S. scientists. Neurologists at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, reached this conclusion following a study of 373 U.S. citizens. The result indicates that life-long, regular exercise may prevent the development of Alzheimer's disease, research team leader Arthur Smith told the 50th annual meeting of the American Academy of Neurology in Minneapolis. Participants in the study included 126 Alzheimer's patients and 247 people not suffering from the disease, a gradually progressive brain dementia.

Detailed questioning of the 373 respondents showed that the healthy ones had engaged in physical exercise more frequently and more intensively between the ages of 20 and 59 than the Alzheimer patients. Sports which could reduce the risk of Alzheimer's included jogging, cycling, swimming, ice-skating and tennis. Neurologists fear that increasing life expectancy in the industrialized world could double the number of Alzheimer's patients from current levels by the year 2030.

In Europe and North America the disease is already the most frequent cause of mental dementia. The illness is triggered by currently unknown cerebral changes. It usually starts with memory loss, diminishing vision and speech problems, and ultimately leads to dementia affecting all physical and mental powers. (DPA)