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CU Dementia Study Looks at Exercise, Diabetes Drug

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Sep 17, 2009 9:11 pm US/Mountain

CU Dementia Study Looks at Exercise, Diabetes Drug

Written for the Web by CBS4 Special Projects Producer Libby Smith

Reporting
Dr. Dave Hnida
AURORA, Colo. (CBS4) ― As Denver prepares for the Memory Walk, researchers at the University of Colorado Hospital are working on ways to prevent dementia. A new study takes a look how exercise and medication impact memory.

"We know that exercise has beneficial effects on all kinds of areas of the body; the heart, the blood vessels, the lungs, the bones, and it increasingly looks like we can add the brain to that list, as well," said Dr. Kerry Hildreth of the Geriatrics Department at University of Colorado Hospital.

Researchers have study participants like Bill Hutchinson working out 3 times a week for 8 weeks.

"I've been able to keep up with the exercise so far. We'll see what happens," Hutchinson told CBS4.

Hutchinson got into the study as a motivation to get moving, but he's also benefited from a battery of screenings and tests for free. Researchers will gradually increase his exercise regime over the course of the study and then test his memory and cognitive functions.

The idea is to slow or stop the onset of dementia.

"Exercise may work through any number of ways," Hildreth explained.

Exercise may not be the only thing that works. In the same study, Dr. Hildreth has participants taking a diabetes drug. A third group is taking a placebo. The drug improves insulin use in the body.

"There's more and more evidence that insulin is very important in the brain. It's very active in the brain. It has a lot of roles and functions that we're just now figuring out," Hildreth explained.

She hopes one of those functions is stopping or slowing the progression of dementia.

"The idea of using diabetes drugs to treat or prevent Alzheimer's is getting a lot of new attention. We are talking about using these drugs in people who do not actually have diabetes," said Dr. Dave Hnida, CBS4 Medical Editor.

"It's believed that these drugs may improve blood flow to brain cells as well as cutting down on the build up of waste materials and proteins that block communication between the cells.

"It's intriguing research that may keep the brain functioning."

Additional Information:

For more information about the study or to become a participant contact Erica Borresen, 720-848-6376 or erica.borresen@ucdenver.edu.

(© MMIX CBS Television Stations, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

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