Puzzles, card games later in life may delay Alzheimer’s onset by five years, study finds
Fox News
Playing puzzles, card games, reading books and engaging in other mentally stimulating activities later in life can help delay the onset of Alzheimer’s dementia by five years, researchers found.
Study participants answered questions about cognitive activity when they were kids, adults and in middle age, and also how often they read books, played board games or puzzles over the year. Respondents who were the most mentally active typically developed dementia by age 94, compared to those least mentally active who usually developed dementia by 89, or some five years sooner. The difference upheld after researchers controlled for other factors potentially confounding dementia risk like sex and education, according to a related news release. "The good news is that it’s never too late to start doing the kinds of inexpensive, accessible activities we looked at in our study," study author Robert S. Wilson, PhD, of Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, said in a news release posted by the American Academy of Neurology. "Our findings suggest it may be beneficial to start doing these things, even in your 80s, to delay the onset of Alzheimer’s dementia."More Related News