Cognitively stimulating activities delay Alzheimer’s by 5 years
The authors of a new study conclude that older adults who participate in cognitively stimulating activities could delay the onset of Alzheimer’s by 5 years.
Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a neurological disorder. In 2020, around 5.8 million people in the United States were living with the condition, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Early symptoms include memory problems and confusion, while more severe symptoms include an inability to communicate and seizures. There is no way to prevent, cure, or stop the progression of AD.
Previous studies have found that cognitively stimulating activities, such as reading, have links with a lower risk of cognitive decline. Some say these activities delay the onset of cognitive symptoms related to AD by enhancing cognitive reserve — a reserve of thinking abilities, which is different between individuals, developed over the lifespan.
Scientists have noted this association between higher levels of cognitive activity and a lower risk for AD for some time. However, how strong the link is and the reasons behind it have remained unclear.
Recently, scientists from Rush University Medical Center in Chicago conducted a study investigating the relationship between levels of cognitive activity and age of AD onset, alongside a range of other factors.
“I was confident that higher cognitive activity would be associated with later age of dementia onset, but I was unsure of the size of the association,” Dr. Robert Wilson, lead author of the paper, told Medical News Today.
“The study suggests that a cognitively active lifestyle can stave off the cognitive symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease and related disorders by several years and thereby greatly reduce how much of one’s lifespan is spent in a cognitively disabled state. We asked about everyday cognitively stimulating activities, such as reading a newspaper or book or visiting a library; it was cognitive activity in old age that was most protective,” he continued. Read More…
