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Walking Groups
Fashion Square Walking Group
Mondays, 9:28-10:30
a.m.
Join our new group of walkers who want to socialize and get moving in a
climate-controlled atmosphere. Join up at 9:28 a.m. in the mall entrance
between Belk and Penny’s in front of the Lenscrafter’s doors. We do not
have a group leader yet but Jane and Betsy will be there.
Ivy Creek Walking Group
Thursdays, 9:00 a.m.
If you enjoy a brisk walk, stimulating conversation and the wonders of
nature, join us! We walk the trails for approximately one hour. Water
bottles and shoes with traction are recommended. The group meets in the
Ivy Creek Natural Area parking lot. For more information contact, Nora
Loukides at 293-7157.
Northside Walking
Fridays, 9:30 a.m. NEW TIME (weather
permitting)
Socialize, exercise, and enjoy nature for an hour while walking the
Rivanna Trail. The group will meet in Penn Park at Shelter #2. (Other
trails can be added for variety based upon interest.) For information,
call Chuck St. Clair at 978-2057.
| Walking
Improved Memory |
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Studies of
senior citizens who walk regularly showed significant
improvement in memory skills compared to sedentary
elderly people. |
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Walking
also improved their learning ability, concentration, and
abstract reasoning. Stroke risk was cut by 57% in people
who walked as little as 20 minutes a day.
[Prevention, October 1996]
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| Women Who
Walk Remember |
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When the
cognitive abilities of elderly women were compared,
those who walked regularly were less likely to
experience age-related memory loss and other declines in
mental function.
University
of California at San Francisco researchers measured the
brain function of nearly 6,000 women during an
eight-year period. The results were correlated with the
women's normal activity level, including their routine
walking and stair-climbing.
"In the
higher-energy groups, we saw much less cognitive
decline," said neurologist Kristine Yaffe, MD. Of the
women who walked the least (a half-mile per week), 24%
had significant declines in their test scores, compared
to only 17% of the most active women (17 miles per
week). |
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It wasn't a
matter of all or nothing. "We also found that for every
extra mile walked per week there was a 13% less chance
of cognitive decline," said Yaffe, who is Chief of
Geriatric Psychiatry at the San Francisco Veterans
Administration Medical Center. "So you don't need to be
running marathons. The exciting thing is there was a
'dose' relationship which showed that even a little is
good but more is better."
"In the
higher-energy groups, we saw much less cognitive
decline" – a protective effect amounting to as much as
40% – according to Yaffe. "This is an important
intervention that all of us can do and it could have
huge implications in preventing cognitive
decline." [Archives of Internal Medicine, July 23,
2001]
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from The Franklin
Institute Online
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