美国《神经病学》杂志网络版日前刊登哥伦比亚大学研究人员的论文说，老年人经常进行中等强度至高强度的运动可预防无症状中风。
中风来源
所谓无症状中风是指病人脑部发生中风的病变，但因临床上没有症状或症状不明显，当事者浑然 不觉。这些病变多半发生于大脑掌管视觉、语言、运动功能以外的区域，病人不会有视力缺损、失语或肢体瘫痪的表现，但是脑部已受损伤。长久下去，患者会出现 如跌跤、行动受阻、失忆、痴呆等现象。
研究人员对1200余名从未患过中风的老年人进行调查，了解他们平时的运动习惯。他们中约43%的人没有经常运动的习惯，36%的人经常进行轻度运动，如打高尔夫球或散步，21%的人经常参加中高强度运动，如打网球、游泳、徒步旅行或慢跑等。
6年后，研究人员对平均年龄已到70岁的被调查对象进行大脑扫描，发现16%的老人患有无症状中风。研究人员对导致无症状中风的多种因素进行了分析对比，其中包括老人平时的运动情况。
分析显示，运动习惯与患无症状中风存在一定关联。与平时没有运动习惯的同龄人相比，经常进行中高强度运动的人患无症状中风的几率要低40%。
生物探索推荐原文
Lower prevalence of silent brain infarcts in the physically active
Objective: To examine the independent association between physical activity and subclinical cerebrovascular disease as measured by silent brain infarcts (SBI) and white matter hyperintensity volume (WMHV). Methods: The Northern Manhattan Study (NOMAS) is a population-based prospective cohort examining risk factors for incident vascular disease, and a subsample underwent brain MRI. Our primary outcomes were SBI and WMHV. Baseline measures of leisure-time physical activity were collected in person. Physical activity was categorized by quartiles of the metabolic equivalent (MET) score. We used logistic regression models to examine the associations between physical activity and SBI, and linear regression to examine the association with WMHV. Results: There were 1,238 clinically stroke-free participants (mean age 70 ± 9 years) of whom 60% were women, 65% were Hispanic, and 43% reported no physical activity. A total of 197 (16%) participants had SBI. In fully adjusted models, compared to those who did not engage in physical activity, those in the upper quartile of MET scores were almost half as likely to have SBI (adjusted odds ratio 0.6, 95% confidence interval 0.4–0.9). Physical activity was not associated with WMHV. Conclusions: Increased levels of physical activity were associated with a lower risk of SBI but not WMHV. Engaging in moderate to heavy physical activities may be an important component of prevention strategies aimed at reducing subclinical brain infarcts.
