Karen’s* foot wasn’t actually ‘killing her’, but she used that metaphor frequently when anyone asked why she was walking with a limp. It’s true, she would continue to live on despite her foot pain, but her concern over how she was going to continue to earn a living was real. Semi-retired, she lived fairly comfortably off what she made from her weekly market stall. All of that was at risk though as she weighed up what was going to give in her day-to-day life in the hopes of making her pain manageable.

There are few certainties in life. ‘Death and taxes’ is the cliche, but there is another certainty. After middle age, most people will lose around 3% of muscle mass per year. Ultimately this is a critical factor which can contribute to increased chances of joints pain, poor blood circulation, a syndrome known as sarcopenia (loss of muscle mass and strength), increase falls risk and increase mortality risk.

Finding an intervention that can reduce cognitive decline and improve memory and communication is the ultimate goal in the treatment of dementia. But could a therapy as well known as exercise be one of those interventions?

For so long we’ve been used to treating health conditions by putting them in neat little packages. It’s as though we’ve assumed that having a particular reason for ill health can be so discretely extracted from the whole of a person in order for us to treat it and thus restore someone to full health. If only it were that easy.

Did you know that after 8 weeks of exercise participants with dust disease in the study had improved their aerobic capacity and quality of life. This meant they were able to walk for longer without getting as effected by shortness of breath.