When my mother first showed signs of dementia she was falling down almost daily. Then she fell and broke her finger. My mother who a year earlier could walk 15 blocks without any real problem could no longer walk a block. I knew I had to do something. While I was trying to decide what to do her health care provider (Humana) began offering a free membership to a health club (Gold's Gym). I enrolled her in Gold's and the Silver Sneakers program. She stopped falling. Once I realized that it was her brain and not her ability to walk, I started putting her on the treadmill. Four years later my mother is walking very slow and holding my hand very tight when she walks. Her brain is sending her all kinds of false messages. Here is the good news, she has not fallen once in these four years. An amazing result for a 92 year old woman suffering from Alzheimer's disease.
As some of you know, I am a big proponent of exercise and I believe this is a necessary component of staving off the dreaded effects of Alzheimer's.
Read more about this on my blog at the The Alzheimer's Reading Room
