The COVID-19 pandemic has devastated communities throughout the world. However, the negative impacts of another pandemic, affecting cities worldwide, arguably rival those of COVID. This destructive global health problem, which we have largely ignored, has been described as the “hurry virus” – the culture of speed that dominates modern lives and cities, causing us to constantly strive to ‘go faster’. This hurry virus has comprehensively infected our city transport systems from the early 20th century.
Physical activity and stress are both environmental modifiers of Alzheimer's disease (AD) risk. Animal studies of physical activity in AD models have largely reported positive results, however benefits are not always observed in either cognitive or pathological outcomes and inconsistencies among findings remain. Studies using forced exercise may increase stress and mitigate some of the benefit of physical activity in AD models, while voluntary exercise regimens may not achieve optimal intensity to provide robust benefit.
