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| Version 1 | Version 2 |
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| How exercise is helping people living with dementia | How exercise is helping people living with dementia |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| By Dominic Hughes Health correspondent, BBC News | By Dominic Hughes Health correspondent, BBC News |
| Exercise - gentle walking, a moderate gym session or even dancing and a sing-song - can help people cope with the devastating impact of dementia, researchers believe. | Exercise - gentle walking, a moderate gym session or even dancing and a sing-song - can help people cope with the devastating impact of dementia, researchers believe. |
| Quite why, the scientists do not yet fully understand. | Quite why, the scientists do not yet fully understand. |
| But unravelling the mysteries of dementia is the key to finding more effective treatments for a condition becoming increasingly common as the population ages. | But unravelling the mysteries of dementia is the key to finding more effective treatments for a condition becoming increasingly common as the population ages. |
| And while drugs can slow its advance, there are concerns about the over prescription of anti-psychotics for dementia patients. | And while drugs can slow its advance, there are concerns about the over prescription of anti-psychotics for dementia patients. |
| At the Redholme care home in Liverpool, it is Wednesday morning and the first gym session of the day is about to begin. | At the Redholme care home in Liverpool, it is Wednesday morning and the first gym session of the day is about to begin. |
| A group of four men - all living with dementia, but still relatively fit and able - are very gently put through their paces by Peter Black, one of the staff at the residential home. | A group of four men - all living with dementia, but still relatively fit and able - are very gently put through their paces by Peter Black, one of the staff at the residential home. |
| The equipment in the room has been modified so it is suitable for people with dementia, most of whom are quite elderly. | The equipment in the room has been modified so it is suitable for people with dementia, most of whom are quite elderly. |
| So there are no great weights - just some gentle lifting and pushing, with the machines based on a hydraulic system rather like a bicycle pump. | So there are no great weights - just some gentle lifting and pushing, with the machines based on a hydraulic system rather like a bicycle pump. |
| "It's not so much to do with being physical and using muscles, it's all to do with stimulation, says Peter. | "It's not so much to do with being physical and using muscles, it's all to do with stimulation, says Peter. |
| "At the end of the exercise people don't go away with aching muscles, they go away laughing, joking, looking at each other - and feeling a lot more confidence in themselves." | "At the end of the exercise people don't go away with aching muscles, they go away laughing, joking, looking at each other - and feeling a lot more confidence in themselves." |
| Peter says it is all too easy for people with dementia to become withdrawn, but the exercise classes help to bring them out of themselves. | Peter says it is all too easy for people with dementia to become withdrawn, but the exercise classes help to bring them out of themselves. |
| David Dyer is still a physically imposing man. | David Dyer is still a physically imposing man. |
| The tattoos on his forearms are a reminder of his time in the Army and prison service. | The tattoos on his forearms are a reminder of his time in the Army and prison service. |
| Now a resident at Redholme, like many people with dementia he has at times become confused and agitated - even aggressive - with staff. | Now a resident at Redholme, like many people with dementia he has at times become confused and agitated - even aggressive - with staff. |
| But the gym sessions seem to help calm him and have become an enjoyable part of his routine, he says, in moderation. | But the gym sessions seem to help calm him and have become an enjoyable part of his routine, he says, in moderation. |
| "It's a good method for strengthening different muscles and you can just keep until you reach the stage where you say, well, I've had enough." | "It's a good method for strengthening different muscles and you can just keep until you reach the stage where you say, well, I've had enough." |
| And, I ask, it helps keep you in shape? | And, I ask, it helps keep you in shape? |
| "It certainly does, yeah. But you wouldn't want to be doing every day, like!" | "It certainly does, yeah. But you wouldn't want to be doing every day, like!" |
| Redholme has been using the gym equipment for the past two years. | Redholme has been using the gym equipment for the past two years. |
| It is only suitable for people in what might be called the middle phase of the condition, before their physical impairment becomes too great. | It is only suitable for people in what might be called the middle phase of the condition, before their physical impairment becomes too great. |
| But over that time the home's owner, Anne McCann, has seen a big difference in the strength and stability of the people in her care, both physically and mentally. | But over that time the home's owner, Anne McCann, has seen a big difference in the strength and stability of the people in her care, both physically and mentally. |
| "We've had a reduced number of falls and we find if people are falling that they're not falling and breaking limbs - they'll put their hands out, they'll save themselves, they'll know how to fall - not only for the men but for the ladies as well. | "We've had a reduced number of falls and we find if people are falling that they're not falling and breaking limbs - they'll put their hands out, they'll save themselves, they'll know how to fall - not only for the men but for the ladies as well. |
| "We've had reduced medication, we've had lots of people taken off anti-psychotic medication from using the equipment and we find the sense of well-being all round is an enhancement." | |
| David Lowery, a research psychologist at the Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust, is assessing the impact of mild exercise on the behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia. | David Lowery, a research psychologist at the Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust, is assessing the impact of mild exercise on the behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia. |
| "Some of the theories are surrounding the regulation of the sleep-wake cycle, and things around stress, and perhaps blood flow to the brain," he says. | "Some of the theories are surrounding the regulation of the sleep-wake cycle, and things around stress, and perhaps blood flow to the brain," he says. |
| "Stimulation itself could perhaps prevent the brain from degenerating, which is one of the key things with dementia." | "Stimulation itself could perhaps prevent the brain from degenerating, which is one of the key things with dementia." |