July 27 (Bloomberg) -- People with Alzheimer's disease who exercise have less brain damage in the area responsible for learning, giving scientific heft to advice doctors have stressed recently: what's good for the body is good for the mind.

Physically fit Alzheimer's patients had larger hippocampuses, the brain structure key to memory, than those who weren't as well conditioned, said researchers at the University of Kansas Medical Center, in Kansas City, Kansas, who are scheduled to present the results today at the Alzheimer's Association's International Conference. Research released earlier this month linked exercise and brain volume in Alzheimer's disease for the first time.

Before these studies, research focused on healthy people, showing exercise improves thinking by boosting blood flow and growth hormones in the brain. These findings suggest the same could be true for those with Alzheimer's. In normal aging, the brain's 100 billion nerve cells die. The disease accelerates the process, attacking the hippocampus first.

``This is the first time we actually have a structural change we haven't seen before and gives us an avenue for further investigation,'' Lisa Ravdin, director of Neuropsychology at New York-Presbyterian, Weill Cornell Medical College in Manhattan who was not involved in the study.

Ravdin has been diagnosing patients with Alzheimer's disease since the early 1990s, when ``all doctors could do was offer patients enrollment in clinical trails for Alzheimer's disease drugs.''

Attention to Prevention

Now there are five U.S. approved drugs to treat Alzheimer's, which mask symptoms for six to 12 months at most, according to the Alzheimer's Association, the Chicago-based advocacy group. Ravdin said more people are focusing on possible ways to prevent the disease, which is the sixth-leading cause of death.

``We are finding that many of the modifiable health behaviors, like exercise, diet and smoking, that have been historically associated with heart disease are now associated with the development of dementia,'' she said in an interview on July 24.

While the new study suggests a link, further research is needed to determine if exercise stops or reduces brain loss. The National Institute on Aging and the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke funded the study.

Physical fitness also could keep people with Alzheimer's disease from falling, said doctors from Western Medicine in Nedlands, Australia, who plan to present the results of a separate study at the conference in Chicago.

Fewer Falls

Alzheimer's disease patients who participated in daily, at- home exercise programs fell less than those without a regular exercise regimen in the first six months of the 12-month study. The active group also improved their balance. Those who didn't exercise regularly showed deterioration in their stability.

Preserving steadiness is especially important in the early stages of the disease, Ravdin said.

``You could have someone with early AD that's doing fine and then they fall and suddenly they lose their independence,'' said Ravdin.

Falling often lands Alzheimer's disease patient in nursing homes, increasing treatment costs for the disease, researchers said. The Alzheimer's Association estimates that 69 percent of all nursing home residents have some degree of cognitive impairment. The average annual price for a private room in a nursing home was $77,745 last year.

Alzheimer's disease sufferers who are still at home could benefit from exercise programs that promote good balance. It ``may be a relatively cost effective way of having a significant impact on the overall rate of falling in the elderly,'' researchers wrote.

The study was funded by the Hollywood Private Hospital Research Foundation and the Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital Research Fund.

To contact the reporter on this story: Cristina Alesci in New York at calesci@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: July 27, 2008 07:00 EDT