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NUCCA News - An Active Mind May Keep Alzheimer's at Bay Health - Reuters NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Some research has suggested that participating in ordinary tasks may stave off the memory-robbing illness Alzheimer's disease (news - web sites). Now a new study of Chicago residents shows that people who participate in intellectually stimulating activities such as reading, listening to the radio and playing games like checkers and cards are less likely than their peers to develop Alzheimer's.
Similar results have been found in a study of Catholic nuns, but the new study included people selected at random from the general population. In the study, Dr. Robert S. Wilson of the Rush Alzheimer's Disease Center in Chicago, Illinois and colleagues looked at 842 black and white city residents whose average age was 76. All the participants performed well on memory tests at the beginning of the study, and the researchers followed up with them an average of four years later. They found that those who participated in mentally challenging activities had a lower risk of Alzheimer's disease than those who rarely engaged in such activities. Participation in other types of activities--such as physical exercise--did not seem to affect Alzheimer's risk. "On average, a person with infrequent cognitive activity was two times more likely to develop disease than a person with frequent cognitive activity," the authors report in the December 2nd issue of the journal Neurology. The researchers asked about 7 common activities, including watching television; listening to the radio; reading newspapers, magazines and books; playing games, such as cards, checkers or crosswords or other puzzles; and going to museums. The amount of time study participants spent doing each activity was measured on a five-point scale with the lowest level of activity (rated a "1") for participating in an activity once a year or less, and the highest (rated a "5") signifying daily or "about every day" participation. Physical activities included walking, running, gardening, dancing, golf, bowling, bike riding and swimming. The researchers found that a person's risk for developing Alzheimer's disease decreased by 64% for each one-point increase on the participation scale when it came to intellectually stimulating activities. During the study, 139 people developed Alzheimer's. The researchers took into account other factors that influence Alzheimer's disease risk, including certain genes, age and education. However, they caution that it's possible that a small fraction of the people already were in the early stages of the disease, and may have already altered their activities due the encroaching illness. SOURCE: Neurology 2002;59:1910-1914.
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