Mentally activities and risk of Alzheimer's

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Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease characterised by progressive cognitive deterioration, together with declining activities of daily living and by neuropsychiatric symptoms or behavioural changes. It is the most common form of dementia.

How often older adults read a newspaper, play chess, or engage in other mentally stimulating activities is related to the risk of developing AD, according to a study by researchers at Rush University Medical Center.

For the study, more than 700 people in Chicago with an average age of 80 underwent yearly cognitive testing for up to five years. Participants were part of the Rush Memory and Aging Project, a longitudinal study of more than 1,200 older people. Of the participants, 90 developed AD. Researchers also performed a brain autopsy on the 102 participants who died.

The study found that a cognitively active person in old age was 2.6 times less likely to develop dementia and AD than a cognitively inactive person in old age. This association remained after controlling for past cognitive activity, lifetime socioeconomic status, and current social and physical activity. Researchers say the findings may be used to help prevent AD. "AD is among the most feared consequences of old age," said study author Robert S. Wilson, PhD, a neuropsychologist at the Rush Alzheimer's Disease Center. "The enormous public health problems posed by the disease are expected to increase during the coming decades as the proportion of old people in the United States increases. This underscores the urgent need for strategies to prevent the disease or delay its onset."

Wilson says the study also found frequent cognitive activity during old age such as visiting a library or attending a play, was associated with reduced risk of mild cognitive impairment, a transitional stage between normal aging and dementia, and less rapid decline in cognitive function.

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