Playing cards or betting on horse races may help delay or prevent dementia in people over 65, according to a new study.
Active participation in intellectual activities, even in old age, can help delay or prevent dementia in older people.
A cohort of 15,582 65-year-old Chinese
To arrive at these conclusions, researchers studied a cohort of 15,582 Chinese aged 65 or over living in community. None suffered from dementia. The follow-up lasted five years. A total of 1,349 people (8.7%) developed dementia. A very encouraging figure, when we know that Alzheimer’s disease alone affects nearly 10% of people over 65 in France. The intellectual activities performed by the cohort were as simple as reading books, newspapers or magazines, playing board or card games, and betting on horse races.
Walking, running, cycling, weight lifting, yoga, tai chi
In addition, supplementing them with physical activity further reduces the risk of dementia, according to a new study published in Neurology. The team found that almost all types of exercise (walking, running, cycling, weight lifting, yoga, tai chi) can help improve cognitive performance, even in people with mild dementia. The benefits of physical exercise on intellectual activity appeared after 52 hours of sport over a six-month period.
Dementia is a condition denoting the partial or total loss of an individual’s cognitive abilities. This decrease in higher functions is irreversible and its onset is generally gradual. Dementia affects memory, attention, learning abilities, and results in loss of sensory, cognitive and motor skills, and sometimes behavioral problems. According to Alzheimer Disease International, “62% of people with dementia already live in developing countries, but by 2050 this will increase to 71%. The fastest increase in the elderly population is in China , and among its neighbors in southern Asia and the western Pacific “.
.
