Exercise Training and Cognitive Function in Kidney Disease

Chronic kidney disease (CKD), affects over 45% of all individuals over 70 years of age. Patients with moderate CKD have more than a two-fold increased risk of cognitive impairment than those without CKD; furthermore, as many as 20-70% of patients with CKD have established cognitive impairment and overt dementia. The burden of cognitive impairment and dementia leads to functional decline and accelerated loss of independence, contributing to the tremendous individual, societal, and economic burden of CKD (i.e., 20% of Medicare expenditures in adults >65 years of age). There is no recommended treatment to prevent cognitive decline in CKD patients, and the few medications available for cognitive impairment have only short term modest effects. There is a critical need to evaluate therapies to forestall cognitive impairment, and maintain or improve cognitive functioning in older patients with CKD. To address this need, this study will test the hypothesis that older patients with moderate/severe CKD and pre-clinical cognitive impairment randomized to a 6-month home-based exercise program will improve cognitive function and MRI measured brain structure, compared to a usual care control group. This study will combine an assessment of cognition with MR imaging techniques to fully evaluate brain structure, blood flow, and behavior relationships at a level previously not conducted in this population