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Brain Exercise May Delay Memory Loss
Study Shows Activities Like Reading
Magazines Are Linked to Lower Risk of Dementia
By Charlene Laino
WebMD Health News
Engaging in activities that exercise the brain, like
reading and even knitting, may delay or prevent
memory loss, researchers report.
In a
new study, reading magazines, knitting and quilting,
and social activities in midlife cut the risk that
people would develop memory loss in their 70s or 80s
by more than one-third.
And
if you've already turned 70 or 80, it's not too late
to benefit from exercises that tax the brain, says
researcher Yonas Geda, MD, a neuropsychiatrist at
the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn.
In
later years, reading books, playing games, and doing
craft activities lowered the chance of memory loss
by about one-third, the study shows.
Computer activities were even more protective for
people in their 70s and 80s, cutting the risk of
memory loss in half, Geda tells WebMD.
Watching more than seven hours of TV a day, on the
other hand, was linked to a higher chance of memory
loss.
The
findings were presented at the annual meeting of the
American Academy of Neurology.
Challenging the Mind
The
familiar adage that you can't teach an old dog new
tricks "is absolutely incorrect," comments Greg
Jicha, MD, a neurologist at University of Kentucky
in Lexington who is also studying the link between
brain activities and memory loss.
Activities that challenge the mind rewire the brain,
he tells WebMD.
Lab
experiments show that if you put brain cells in a
Petri dish, "they will form connections and survive.
But if you put just one cell in the dish, it will
die," Jicha says.
Reading, playing games, and other activities
stimulate brain cells to connect and flourish, he
explains.
Novel activities are particularly beneficial, Jicha
adds. "Don't just keep doing the same old thing."
The
new study involved 197 people between the ages of 70
and 89 with mild cognitive impairment, or diagnosed
memory loss, and 1,124 people in the same age group
with no memory problems.
Participants were asked a series of questions about
their daily activities within the past year and in
middle age, when they were between 50 to 65 years
old.
A
limitation of the study is that "they are relying on
memories of the participants," Jicha says. He
suggests that in future studies, family members and
friends also be asked about participants' activities
to double check their memories.
Geda
acknowledges that the study doesn't prove cause and
effect and that more research is needed to confirm
the findings.
But
together with other research, "it does suggest that
cognitive exercise appears to protect against future
memory loss," he says.
©
WebMD. All rights reserved.
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Reading, playing games, and other
activities stimulate brain cells to connect and
flourish. |
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