We have great news for anyone who habitually reads our blogs: reading, writing or learning new languages may lower the risk of Alzheimer’s disease by almost 40 percent. Having hobbies that keep your brain active throughout your life with learning activities appears to stave off the decline of memory and cognitive skills.
A new study tracked data from 1,939 people. The average age was 80, and 75 percent of them were women. None of them had dementia when the study started. And it followed them for about eight years.
The researchers looked all the way back to the participants’ childhoods to learn about their early reading habits, if they were read to, if there were books or globes in the house, if they were read to and if they learned a language. They considered people’s behavior as middle-aged adults — if they read, had a library card or attended museums. When they looked at the participants later in life, they considered their reading and writing habits, along with any brain games that they played. At all ages, the researchers took note of the person’s income.
They created a score to gauge people’s lifetime cognitive enrichment. The people in the top 10 percent had a 38 percent lower risk of Alzheimer’s and a 36 percent lower risk of mild cognitive impairment than people in the bottom 10 percent. People with the highest scores developed Alzheimer’s five years later or developed mild cognitive impairment seven years later than those in the bottom 10 percent.
Author Dr. Andrea Zammit, from Rush Univ. said, “Our findings are encouraging, suggesting that consistently engaging in a variety of mentally stimulating activities throughout life may make a difference in cognition. Public investments that expand access to enriching environments, like libraries and early education programs designed to spark a lifelong love of learning, may help reduce the incidence of dementia.”
“This new research shows that staying mentally active throughout life can cut the risk of Alzheimer’s disease by nearly 40 percent,” said Alzheimer’s Research UK senior policy manager, Dr. Isolde Radford. “This supports what we already know about the preventative steps people can take to reduce their risk of developing dementia. It also highlights that dementia is not an inevitable part of aging and that our cognitive health is shaped throughout our lives.”
The study had limitations. The participants self-reported all of the information about their childhood and midlife circumstances when they were older adults. Their recollection may not have been accurate. Additionally, this research can only show that “lifelong learners” have a lower risk of cognitive problems later in life. It can’t prove that those habits cause those lower risks.
