the effect of a “selected exercise training” on reducing symptoms of dementia caused by alzheimer's disease in people with down syndrome

objectives: the aim of the study was to determine the effect of a selected exercise training on reducing symptoms of dementia caused by alzheimer's disease in people with down syndrome. methods: 27 men with down syndrome were randomized to intervention (n=13) and control (n=13) groups. all persons in experimental group followed 12 weeks selected exercise training, three times a week. prior to the start of the study, and after three-month training, each member in both groups was assessed according to the dsqiid questionnaire filled by caregivers of these peoples. data were analysed by independent t-test. results: the results indicated that the first questionnaire subscales that assess memory disorders and confusion in the experimental group between pre and post test showed a significant decrease (p=0.028). also in third part of questionnaire that asked about the individual skills, social withdrawal, physical symptoms and speech abnormalities, the variable scores in post-test of experimental group were significantly lower than pre-test scores (p=0.047). discussion: these result showed that the combination of selected exercises training could cause a significant reduction in the incidence of initial dementia symptoms and can be an important step to prevent of the dementia in these people.