The Impact of Exercising in the Quality of Life of People with Dementia-Alzheimer's Disease

Abstract

In the recent years, the percentage of people with mild mental deterioration or some form of dementia is extremely increasing. Given that until today there has not been found an effective cure for dementia and the side effects of any kind of medicine are immense, the need for alternative non-medicine intervention seems to be obligatory. The target of this research was the activity concerning the mental deterioration of old people and its use with no medicine at all to deal with dementia through a good quality life.Method - Material: Throughout the literature review on which the method of collecting the proper data for the research, numerous published researches were studied from 2010 until 2018 which fulfilled the criteria of accession. The researches were identified in three electronic databases (PubMed, ScienceDirect, Web of Science) and were examined in accordance with the examined population, the draft of the research, the kinds of intervention, and the assessment tools which were used.Results - Conclusions: The majority of researches seem to converge to the aspect that the physical activity offers considerable benefits to the people suffering from the Alzheimer's disease or any other kind of dementia. More specifically, it contributes to the stability and the improvement of mental function as well as to the delay of the appearance of serious neuropsychiatric symptoms such as depression, confusion, and apathy. Moreover, the role of physical activity is significant in the improvement of functional ability of patients suffering from dementia resulting in the enforcement of autonomy in everyday activities and the confinement of the danger of dropping down. Consequently, the researches indicate that physical activity constitutes a well-promising intervention in the prevention and non-medicine treatment as it contributes to the upgrading of good quality life of the patients. However, the results vary depending on the particular characteristics of the body practicing, such as the kind of exercise, the intensity, the frequency, and the duration. Thus, it is extremely important the comprehension and knowledge of specific factors which are responsible for the acquirement of characteristics of therapeutic intervention which will lead to the development of exclusively designed exercise patterns and programs for dementia.

Keywords: Alzheimer’s disease; Dementia; Exercise; Physical activity; Quality of life.