In a new study from Rush University, researchers found that reading, writing letters and playing card games or puzzles in later life may delay the onset of Alzheimer’s dementia by up to five years.
The findings suggest it may be beneficial to start doing these things, even in your 80s, to delay the onset of Alzheimer’s dementia.
In the study, the team looked at 1,978 people with an average age of 80 who did not have dementia at the start of the study. The people were followed for an average of seven years.
To determine if they had developed dementia, participants were given annual examinations, which included a number of cognitive tests.
When the study began, people rated their participation in seven activities on a five-point scale. The questions included: “During the past year, how often did you read books?” and “During the past year, how often did you play games like checkers, board games, cards or puzzles?”
Participants also answered questions about cognitive activity in childhood, adulthood and middle age.
Researchers then averaged each person’s responses, with a score of one meaning once a year or less and a score of five meaning every day or almost every day.
People in the group with high cognitive activity scored an average of 4.0 which meant activities several times per week, compared to an average score of 2.1 for those with low cognitive activity, which meant activities several times per year.
During the study follow-up period, 457 people with an average age of 89 were diagnosed with Alzheimer’s dementia.
The team found people with the highest levels of activity, on average, developed dementia at age 94. The people with the lowest cognitive activity, on average, developed dementia at age 89, a difference of five years.
The study shows that people who engage in more cognitively stimulating activities may be delaying the age at which they develop dementia.
It is important to note after the team accounted for the late-life level of cognitive activity, neither education nor early-life cognitive activity were associated with the age at which a person developed Alzheimer’s dementia.
The research suggests that the link between cognitive activity and the age at which a person developed dementia is mainly driven by the activities people do later in life.
If you care about Alzheimer’s and dementia, please read studies about a new smell test for Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s and COVID-19 and findings of a better way to diagnose Alzheimer’s disease.
For more information about Alzheimer’s disease and your health, please see recent studies about a new drug for Alzheimer’s disease prevention found safe and effective and results showing that changes in the eye may show early warning for Alzheimer’s disease.
The study is published in Neurology. One author of the study is Robert S. Wilson, Ph.D.
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