Chores, Exercise, and Social Visits Linked to Lower Risk of Dementia -

Summary: The study reveals that performing housework, exercise and social interactions significantly reduce the risk of dementia.

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Physical and mental activities, such as housework, exercise, and visits with family and friends, can help reduce the risk of dementia, according to a new study published in the July 27, 2022, online edition of Neurology.

The study looked at the effects of these activities, as well as mental activities and the use of electronic devices in people with and without an increased genetic risk of dementia.

“Many studies have identified potential risk factors for dementia, but we wanted to learn more about a wide variety of lifestyle habits and their potential role in preventing dementia,” said study author Huan Song, MD, PhD, from Sichuan University in Chengdu. , porcelain. “Our study found that exercise, housework and social visits were associated with a reduced risk of various types of dementia.”

The study involved 501,376 people from a UK database without dementia with an average age of 56 years.

The participants completed questionnaires at the beginning of the study, including one about physical activities. They were asked how often they participated in activities such as climbing a flight of stairs, walking, and participating in strenuous sports. They were also asked about household chores, work-related activities, and what type of transportation they used, including walking or biking to work.

The participants completed another questionnaire on mental activities. They were asked about their level of education, whether they attend adult education classes, how often they visit friends and family, visit pubs, social clubs or religious groups, and how often they use electronic devices such as playing computer games, watching television and talking on the phone.

Additionally, participants reported whether they had immediate family members with dementia. This helped the researchers determine if they had a genetic risk for Alzheimer’s disease. Study participants were followed for an average of 11 years. At the end of the study, 5,185 people had developed dementia.

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After adjusting for multiple factors such as age, income and smoking, the researchers found that most physical and mental activities studied showed links to dementia risk. Importantly, the findings remain after accounting for the high correlations and interactions of these activities.

The researchers found that all participants benefited from the protective effect of physical and mental activities, whether or not they had a family history of dementia. The image is in the public domain

People who were highly involved in activity patterns, including frequent exercise, housework, and daily visits from family and friends, had a 35%, 21%, and 15% lower risk of dementia, respectively, compared with people who were less involved in these activities. patterns.

The researchers also looked at dementia incidence rates by identified activity patterns. The rate in people who exercised frequently was 0.45 cases per 1,000 person-years compared with 1.59 for people who rarely exercised. Person-years take into account the number of people in a study as well as the amount of time spent in the study.

Those who did housework frequently had a rate of 0.86 cases per 1,000 person-years versus 1.02 for people who rarely did housework.

People who visited family daily had a rate of 0.62 cases per 1,000 person-years compared to 0.8 cases for those who only visited friends and family once every few months.