Disconnect of Research Data From Clinical Reality. Working Out, Increasing Muscle Mass, and Preventing Alzheimer’s Disease?

From the Author

During my long career, from the very beginning of my training, I understood that although the science of medical massage originates from general biomedical science, it is a different branch of biomedical science, exclusively oriented toward the clinical application of massage procedures in different disorders.

This understanding has shaped my clinical thinking and my approach to different pathologies from a clinical perspective. This mindset has helped me deliver sustainable results.

As I wrote in my previous articles, through my private research, I came to the conclusion that during the last five years, massive changes have occurred in clinical reality and throughout the healthcare field. However, in reality, healthcare fields have not yet adjusted accordingly.

In my clinical opinion, this may be one of the main reasons behind the massive emergence of chronic stress-related disorders, including the possibility that the general population may be moving toward a massive increase in dementia and other degenerative brain diseases that are not necessarily related to age.

Working Out, Increasing Muscle Mass, and Preventing Alzheimer’s Disease?

For many years, I have been a member of a closed Facebook integrative medicine group. Many of the members are physicians. It is a very productive group.

Whatever someone posts, they should be prepared for constructive criticism, praise for their work, or questions. Posts are rarely ignored. Discussions advance clinical thinking and professional skills. I love this group.

After posting a link to my article, The Hidden Healthcare Crisis: Why the General Population Must Learn Self-Treatment Strategies — Part I , one of the members, a board-certified ENT physician, stated that many studies support the idea that increasing muscle mass significantly reduces the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease.

He recommended that I add advice to my article encouraging people to work out intensively and increase muscle mass in order to help avoid a potential pandemic of dementia.

Of course, he provided references.

Let’s examine the following.

Published Data Indicate That:

• U.S. estimates published between 2022 and 2024 have placed the number of adults experiencing Long COVID at approximately 17–20 million.
• A 2025 CDC analysis, based on 2023 data, found that 51.4% of U.S. adults—approximately 130 million people—reported multiple chronic conditions.
• Studies published during and after the COVID-19 pandemic have documented increased demand for mental-health services and continuing pressure on psychiatric and psychological care.
• Studies published since the pandemic have reported increased use of antidepressants and other psychotropic medications, including substantial increases among some younger populations.
• Longitudinal research published since the pandemic has reported persistent cognitive impairment and increased risk of cognitive decline among some COVID-19 survivors, particularly following severe infection or persistent post-COVID symptoms.

Many of these millions of suffering people are intolerant to exercise and physical activities.

Of course, people who are capable of working out should continue to work out to build and increase muscle mass, and possibly it can help to prevent Alzheimer’s disease.

Research Data and the Bigger Clinical Picture

Through my individual research into the widespread effects of chronic stress, I have come to recognize a limitation in how scientific knowledge is often constructed and interpreted.

Scientific findings can function like pieces of a puzzle: each study may provide valuable evidence about a specific mechanism, symptom, population, or research question, yet individual pieces do not necessarily reveal the full picture of the broader and sometimes tragic consequences of chronic stress-related disorders.

When research is divided into highly specialized areas, important connections between biological, psychological, social, and environmental factors may be difficult to see.

Therefore, understanding chronic stress-related disorders requires not only rigorous scientific data, but also an effort to integrate findings across disciplines and to consider the larger human and societal picture that emerges from those individual pieces of evidence.

In Conclusion

I agree with the general idea that correct diagnosis is 50% of success in treating disorders.

When was the last time a primary care physician or other specialist used the diagnosis “chronic stress-related disorders”, instead of using downstream diagnoses such as fibromyalgia, Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS), POTS, or generalized somatic dysfunction?

If we carefully evaluate the public health situation, we may come to the conclusion that post-COVID chronic stress and Long COVID overlap clinically, and that chronic stress-related physiological mechanisms deserve greater consideration when evaluating these patients.

Generally speaking, I do not believe we currently have true integrative medicine.

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