Study: Physical and mental activities helps to reduce risk of dementia

ANI |
Updated: July 30, 2022 11:33 PM IST

Minneapolis [US]July 30 (ANI): The risk of dementia can be reduced by engaging in physical and mental tasks such as homework, exerciseand socialize. In addition to examining the impacts of these activities, the study also examined the effects of mental activities and use of electronic devices in people with and without an increased genetic risk of dementia.
The study findings were published online in Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
“Many studies have identified potential risk factors for dementiabut we wanted to know more about a wide variety of lifestyle habits and their potential role in preventing dementiasaid study author Huan Song, MD, PhD, of Sichuan University in Chengdu, China. “Our study found that exercise, homeworkand social visits were associated with a reduced risk of several types of dementia.”
The study involved 501,376 people from a UK database with no 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 homeworkwork-related activities and what type of transportation they used, including walking or bicycling 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.
In addition, 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. At the end of the study, 5,185 people had developed dementia.
After adjusting for various factors, including age, income and smoking status, the researchers found that most of the physical and mental activities studied showed links to the risk of dementia. Importantly, the findings remain after accounting for the high correlations and interactions of these activities. People who were heavily involved in activity patterns that included frequent exerciseyes, homeworkand daily visits from family and friends had a 35 percent, 21 percent, and 15 percent lower risk of dementiarespectively, compared to people who were less engaged in these activity patterns.
The researchers also observed dementia incidence rates by identified activity patterns. The rate of people exercised frequently was 0.45 cases per 1,000 person-years compared to 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 it frequently homework had a rate of 0.86 cases per 1,000 person-years compared to 1.02 for people who rarely homework. 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.
“Our study has found that by participating more frequently in healthy physical and mental activities, people can reduce the risk of dementiaSong said. “Further research is needed to confirm our findings. However, our results are encouraging that making these simple lifestyle changes can be beneficial.”
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.
One limitation of the study was that people reported their own physical and mental activity, so they may not have remembered and reported these activities correctly. (AND ME)