What can you do now, to reduce the risk of dementia when you are older?

Nobody wants to get to the stage where they can’t remember what was just said or keep getting confused.

There is an interesting article and short video in the NYT today that talks about a study started in 1981 by the University of Southern California. This study, called the 90+ Study, has enrolled more than 14,000 people aged 65 and older, and more than 1,000 aged 90 or older. The study is designed to look at both health and mental ability.

Now that the study has been more than 25 years and the younger participants have aged, the researchers are starting to try to tease out which factors, including lifestyle factors, affect health and mental sharpness.

For mental sharpness, of particular interest, are those who are 90+ and have no traces of dementia. The study suggests that those who spend a lot of time at activities that require concentration, and are mentally challenging such as crosswords, card games and Sudoku have a lower risk of developing dementia. Additionally, for those that are going to get dementia, it delays the onset.

One thing that I have noticed working in research at several universities is how sharp the oldest professors remain. Research is quite mentally challenging and requires periods of concentration. Those that chose not to retire seem to keep their mental abilities into their 70’s and even 80’s. This in consistent with the brain having “a use it or lose it” component.

Of course there is always the chicken and the egg. Are those who like mentally challenging things less likely to get dementia, or does keeping mental challenged stop dementia? Hopefully this and other research studies will answer this question soon.

Perhaps we should watch a bit less TV. Is the rerun of something we have already seen, that important? Maybe doing something a bit more challenging, that we enjoy, may be a good investment for the future.

photo credit: me and the sysop

[tags]dementia, mental sharpness, mental abilities, mentally challenging, concentration[/tags]