Key points from article :
Cold water swimming may protect the brain from degenerative diseases.
RBM3, a protein first found in rats, has been now found in regular winter swimmers.
The protein slows the onset of dementia and repairs some of the damage it causes in mice.
The research stemmed from the fact that hibernating animals lose brain connections but regenerate them after awakening.
Swimmers voluntarily made themselves hypothermic and were tested for the protein in 2016,2017 and 2018.
People who practise Tai Chi exercise beside the pool but never swam were controls.
Researchers found that swimmers had markedly elevated levels of RBM3 while the controls did not.
However cold immersion can be dangerous and may lead to heart attacks, strokes, rapid breathing & confusion.
Prof Mallucci- "the challenge is to find a drug that produces this protein in humans and - more importantly - to prove it really does help delay dementia."
Study by Cambridge University but has not been published yet.
