Kan fysisk aktivitet förebygga Alzheimers sjukdom? En litteraturbaserad studie.
Alzheimers sjukdomFysisk aktivitetKognitiv funktionMild kognitiv sviktFörebyggandeFriskfaktorPhysical activityAlzheimer?s diseaseCognitive functionMild cognitive impairmentPreventionProtective factor
Introduction: We are facing an aging population, which means that the incidence of age related diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease, are expected to increase. In the current situation there is no cure for the disease, whereupon it is important to develop preventive strategies. Objective: To examine the association between Alzheimer's disease and physical activity. Method: A systematic literature search was done to identify the current state of knowledge from the year 2006 onwards. The reason for this limitation was that the SBU commissioned a systematic literature review in 2006, where the relationship between physical activity and Alzheimer's disease could not be determined. Result: Eleven of fifteen studies were able to demonstrate weak and moderate correlation between physical activity and Alzheimer's disease or cognitive function, where seven studies indicate that physical activity is preventive. Of the remaining four studies that found an association, there was not possible to comment about a preventive effect, because of the cross-sectional study type, which did not indicate what was cause and effect. The remaining four studies failed to show this correlation. Although studies did not find significant correlation that physical activity can act to prevent Alzheimer's disease or impaired cognitive function, none of them showed that physical activity is a risk factor. Discussion: All of the studies that used objective methods to measure physical activity detected a connection between physical activity and Alzheimer's disease or cognitive function. Among the studies that measured physical activity with subjective methods, the results were not consistent. A subjective estimate of physical activity is problematic for several reasons, such as recall bias and social desirability bias, whereas measuring methods used can have had an affect on the results of the study. Conclusion: There was a tendency to suggest that physical activity can act to prevent Alzheimer's disease or impaired cognitive function, but the results were not strong enough to draw any conclusion.