Exercise-induced adaptations in patients with Alzheimer’s disease: the role of circadian scheduling

Purpose: Physical exercise is recognized to induce several benefits to patients with AD, therefore it is crucial to maximize its effect. Even though these patients show circadian rhythm dysregulations no comprehensive recommendations for physical exercise circadian scheduling exist. Thus, the aim of this review was to investigate the most favorable times of the day to administer exercise to patients with AD. Methods: A comprehensive PubMed research was led to identify studies related to the time of exercise intervention and exercise circadian scheduling in people with AD. The following terms were applied: Alzheimer’s disease, exercise, physical exercise intervention time, circadian rhythm dysregulation. Results: Ten studies were included. Seven records regarded AD and physical exercise, 2 circadian physical exercise, 1 gait/balance control impairment. Conclusions: Most of the authors included in this review indicate morning as the best time of the day to administer physical exercise to patients with AD. Furthermore, some authors considered show benefits to these patients from post-meridian exercise intervention as well as others hypothesize efficacy from exercise circadian programs. Nevertheless, the paucity of studies in this field limits the conclusion of this review. For these reasons, we think that research should invest more to better focus on the circadian approach to physical exercise scheduling for patients with AD.