There is no treatment to treat a patient with Alzheimer’s disease. On the other hand, beyond the diagnosis, it is possible to slow down the effects. Physical activity is one of these actions to be implemented to limit the progression of cognitive disorders.
At the EHPAD Les orchids in Lamentin, physical activity sessions are organized for residents and other members of the Caribbean association for the well-being of the elderly.
Two to four times a week, under the support of Jean-Christophe Teacher APA (Adapted Physical Activity) and Liévyn Enette, APA professional and doctor in physiology of the exercise, there are about twenty to find themselves to get out of sedentary lifestyle and stimulate their cognitive skills.
Sport and sporting activity have always been close to Liévyn Enette. He himself a former athlete and former student in Staps (sciences and techniques of physical and sports activities), he supported in 2019 his doctorate on the benefits of sport for people with Alzheimer’s.
Today managers manager in the Ehpad du Lamentin, coordinator of the paramedical and animation pole, he implemented the fruit of his studies by offering concerned seniors, physical, practical and fun workshops.
In the large reception hall of the establishment for the elderly, an area is reserved for sport. Walking carpet, elliptical velo, muscle strengthening are offered to residents in an intensity corresponding to their skills and ages.
Workshops also use their concentration and their memory. The host offers, for example, mini-years around colored studs to bypass several times. While activating in a playful atmosphere, the performer must memorize the color that has been designated, repeat and retain the instructions.
Physical activity will improve synaptic transmissions by stimulating concentration, attention, memory. But it will also secrete a protein in the brain, responsible for survival and the creation of neurons. … We know today that physical activity through endurance, muscle strengthening, balance and flexibility, acts on the volume of the hippocampus. Hippocampus which is the center of immediate episodic memory
-Lievyn Enette Doctor in Physiology of the Exercise
By definition, as we get older, we activate ourselves less and less; But the problem occurs when you fall into sedentary lifestyle. A reflex which is accentuated by the person himself or by those around him, when cognitive disorders have been diagnosed.
Many patients at home or residents in closed units reduce their outings, fear of falling or getting lost. However, thanks to maintained and regular physical activity, not only would the patient’s functional and motor skills be preserved or even improved, but also his intellectual capacities.
According to the “foundation defeated Alzheimer” “people practicing moderate or high physical activity reduce their risk of developing a neurocognitive disease compared to those which are sedentary.
If there is no treatment to date, against the disease, we can act to limit its evolution. Move, activate with reasonable objectives, also contributes to a reduction in cardiovascular risks by protecting the brain better.
By moving, we increase its cardiac output and therefore also its brain blood flow … This will improve the vascularization of all areas of the brain and all lobes, with a beneficial effect on the survival of these blood vessels, to bring oxygen and nutrients to the brain in general
In any case, the practice of a physical activity remains a privileged moment. Apart from the benefits it provides directly on the body, it allows moreover in a person with cognitive disorders, to promote social ties, to become aware of preserved physical capacities and to regain self -esteem.
