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Exercise & Fitness
How does regular exercise protect against mental decline?
- By Anthony L. Komaroff, MD, Editor in Chief, Harvard Health Letter
Ask the doctor
Q. Is it true that regular exercise protects not only against overweight, diabetes, and heart disease, but also against mental decline? If so, how does exercise do all this?
A. We’ve had solid evidence for many decades that regular exercise offers protection against all of these things. But how? That’s been the question. It’s easy enough to see how burning calories with regular exercise would protect against weight gain. However, it’s been harder to understand how exercise might protect against diabetes, cardiovascular problems, and brain disease.
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