ask: Any restriction in intensity of excercise with vascular dementia

Hi Janer831

Thanks for your post!

One of the easiest things you can do (and free of charge!) is walk. Start with a 15 minute walk and increase to an hour a day over a couple of months.

Another low impact exercise you can do is shallow and/or deep water aerobics. Again, start out slowly and increase to a few classes a week. You will receive a full body workout in water (you'll be wearing a flotation device, don't worry) and it's also a lot of fun.

For any kind of low impact classes, check out your local recreation center. As a family, we use ours a lot!

Strength training is also great for diabetics. WebMD has a great page about it here : http://diabetes.webmd.com/strength-training-diabetes

There are a lot of mind exercises you can do for your dementia. Doing any kind of puzzle (crosswords, Sodoku etc) is good, as are games like bridge or any other kind of board game. Read the newspaper every day and converse with friends back and forth. Keep your brain as active as you can.

With regard to restrictions, exercise is not a good idea when blood sugar is very high. Don't do any kind of exercise at those times. You should talk with your doctor about other restrictions based on your complete medical history. And please don't start any exercise routine before consulting your health care professional. I know that sounds like a cliche, but with your diabetes being as uncontrolled as it is, it's important to know your limits.

I hope this helps you and let me know if I can help you out in any other way!

Susan