To identify and characterize the scientific literature on the effects of exercise on Alzheimer's disease, research was conducted in the following databases: MEDLINE, CINAHL, Web of Science, and Scopus. These MeSH terms--"exercise", "motor activity", "physical fitness", "Alzheimer disease", and its synonyms in English--were used in the initial search to locate studies published between 2003 and 2013. After reading the 12 final articles in their entirety, two additional articles, found by a manual search, were included. Of these, 13 had beneficial results of exercise in Alzheimer's disease. Given the results discussed here, the exercise may be important for the improvement of functionality and performance of daily life activities, neuropsychiatric disturbances, cardiovascular and cardiorespiratory fitness, functional capacity components (flexibility, agility, balance, strength), and improvements in some cognitive components such as sustained attention, visual memory, and frontal cognitive function in patients with AD.

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Aim: Cognitive functions can decline with age, and interventions focusing on stimulating them may have positive results. Previous studies have shown that square-stepping exercise (SSE) has a good influence on balance, but this exercise also seems to promote cognitive stimulation. Therefore, the purpose of the present study was to analyse the effect of 16 weeks of SSE on cognitive functions in non-demented community-dwelling older people. Methods: This was a longitudinal, non-randomized study. Forty-one older adults (60 years and older) were recruited, and 21 participated in the SSE group (practised only SSE sequences) and 20 were in the control group (continued with their activities of daily living). Both groups were evaluated using the Mini-Mental State Examination, the Digit Span test, the ToulousePierón Attention Test and the Modified Card Sorting Test. Results:The SSE group showed a significant improvement in global cognitive status, concentrated attention and mental flexibility after 16 weeks of the SSE intervention. Conclusion: Evidence shows that SSE is a physical activity that positively influences cognitive functions in non-demented older people.

This study showed that resistance training improves agility, lower limb strength, balance and flexibility in AD patients, while SGG protocol is important to improve the agility.

PurposeThe present study aimed to determine the effect of demographic characteristics, occupation, anthropometric indices, and leisure-time physical activity levels on coronary risk and health-related quality of life among military police officers from the State of Santa Catarina, Brazil.MethodsThe sample included 165 military police officers who fulfilled the study’s inclusion criteria. The International Physical Activity Questionnaire and the Short Form Health Survey were used, in addition to a spreadsheet of socio-demographic, occupational and anthropometric data. Statistical analyses were performed using descriptive analysis followed by Spearman Correlation and multiple linear regression analysis using the backward method.ResultsThe waist-to-height ratio was identified as a risk factor low health-related quality of life. In addition, the conicity index, fat percentage, years of service in the military police, minutes of work per day and leisure-time physical activity levels were identified as risk factors for coronary disease among police officers.ConclusionsThese findings suggest that the Military Police Department should adopt an institutional policy that allows police officers to practice regular physical activity in order to maintain and improve their physical fitness, health, job performance, and quality of life.