The Dangerous Economist: Regular physical exercise is the single, most effective intervention that can improve brain and physical health

See Live Q&A: Brain Health as You Age—We Answered Your Questions by Alex Janin and Amy Dockser Marcus of The WSJ. Excerpts:

"Regular physical exercise is the single, most effective intervention that can improve brain and physical health" [said Dr. Zaldy Tan, a memory disorders specialist who heads the Memory & Healthy Aging Program at Cedars-Sinai.]
"I make it a point to learn something new everyday" [said Dr. Tan]
"I try (and usually succeed) in getting seven to eight hours of restful sleep every night." [said Dr. Tan]
"45% of the risk [of Alzheimer’s disease (AD)] is from lifestyle/environment and potentially modifiable." [said Dr. Tan]
"Higher levels of physical activity has been associated by multiple, large studies with lower risk of developing dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease. The magnitude of risk reduction can be up to 20-40% and appears to be robust even after adjusting for potential confounders such as age, gender, genetic risk, and education. At the Framingham Heart Study, we found that lower levels of physical activity is associated with higher risk for developing dementia in people aged 60 years or older. We also found that people with higher levels of physical activity not only have lower risk of developing dementia but also have bigger brains on MRI scanning. The study can be found here." [said Dr. Tan]

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