Tai chi exercises can help maintain healthy memory
Thursday, 10 November 2011
Tai chi exercises can help maintain healthy memory.
People often dread several aspects of aging, including the decline of their physical and mental health. However, a growing body of research suggests that tai chi exercises and other activities may help prevent memory loss.
Some medical experts believe that late-life Alzheimer's, which occurs when people enter their 80s or 90s, is only slightly influenced by genetics, and that lifestyle choices such as physical activity and diet play larger roles, as reported by CNN.
Exercise may be the biggest factor affecting cognitive health later in life. Activities such as tai chi can have benefits for the brain's hippocampus, where memories are processed. Remaining socially engaged and taking up new and challenging hobbies can also support the brain, medical experts tell CNN.
Tai chi is an energy healing meditation exercise that involves slow deliberate movements of the body accompanied by conscious breathing. The reported benefits of tai chi include relief of pain and stiffness from osteoarthritis, as well as improvements in strength, flexibility, coordination, balance and sleep, according to the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, a division of the National Institutes of Health. In 2007, the agency estimated that 2.3 million American adults practiced tai chi within the previous 12 months.
