Regular internet use by seniors can cut their risk of dementia by half.
- More than 55 million people have dementia worldwide.
- Using the Internet regularly after the age of 50 reduces this risk.
- To reach this conclusion, researchers studied a cohort of 18,154 Americans.
Seniors who use the Internet regularly have half the risk of dementia than those who do not use it regularly, according to a new study published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.
How do seniors use the Internet?
Previous studies have already shown that web users tend to have better overall cognitive performance, better verbal reasoning, and better memory than others. To see if this had an impact on dementia, researchers studied a cohort of 18,154 Americans aged between 50 and 65.
The median follow-up period for participants whose data was analyzed in this trial was 8 years, but it was up to 17 years for some of them. Researchers have assessed seniors’ Internet use every two years since 2002, and the data was collected between 2002 and 2018.
Not using the Internet increases the risk of dementia among seniors
After analysis, the results showed that approximately 65% of people included in the trial were regular Internet users and 35% were non-regular users. 21% changed their web usage habits during the study period, while 53% changed nothing.
Regarding dementia, participants who regularly used the Internet at the start of the study had a 1.54% risk of developing this condition. Among non-Web users, this risk was 10.45%.
Online activities such as searching for information, reading articles, communicating with other people and playing games can therefore all help to keep the brain active. It is important to note, however, that this study has certain limitations. First, it is based on data collected from a specific cohort of older Americans, which may limit its generalizability to other populations. Additionally, although the researchers accounted for several potential confounding factors, it is still possible that other unmeasured variables could influence the results.
55 million seniors affected by dementia worldwide
Currently, more than 55 million people live with dementia worldwide, more than 60% of them in low- and middle-income countries. Every year there are almost 10 million new cases.
“Dementia results from various diseases and lesions that affect the brain. Alzheimer’s disease is the most common cause of dementia and is thought to account for 60 to 70% of cases“, specifies the WHO. “Dementia is currently the seventh leading cause of death and a leading cause of disability and dependency among older people worldwide,” adds the institution.
