SAN DIEGO, Ca. May 04 (Reuters Health) - When it comes to avoiding
Alzheimer's disease, the latest advice is--'It's your brain, use it or lose it.'
Keeping active outside work, especially with hobbies which involve mental
stimulation, may help prevent Alzheimer's, according to a study presented here
at the American Academy of Neurology's (AAN) 52nd Annual Meeting.
Researchers found that people who played a musical instrument, exercised,
did cross word puzzles or jigsaws, played cards, board games, or similar
activities, were less likely to develop Alzheimer's disease later in life.
"People who were less active were more than three times more likely to have
Alzheimer's disease as compared to those who were more active," said study
author Dr. Robert Friedland, in a statement issued by the AAN. Friedland is a
neurologist at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine and University
Hospitals of Cleveland, Ohio.
Friedland and colleagues compared 193 people with Alzheimer's disease,
(average age, 73) with 358 healthy people (average age, 71). The researchers
collected data on 26 activities, some that were considered intellectual, such as
reading, woodworking and knitting and others that were physical, such as playing
racquetball or gardening. Other activities were considered to be essentially
passive, such as watching television or attending religious services.
They found that Alzheimer's-free study subjects tended to engage in more
physical or intellectual activities between the ages of 40 and 60 than people
with the memory-robbing disorder. Engaging in passive activities had no
protective effect.
This was true even after the researchers took into account other factors tat
can influence Alzheimer's risk, such as age, income, gender and education.
Although it is possible that people with the early stages of Alzheimer's disease
were less likely to exercise or engage in intellectual pursuits because of their
illness, the researchers think this is unlikely.
The study's findings suggest that increasing physical and intellectual
activities may help reduce the risk of Alzheimer's, even in people in middle
age, the authors conclude.
"A relative increase in the amount of time devoted to intellectual
activities from early adulthood (ages 20 to 39) to mid-adulthood (ages 40 to 60)
was associated with a significant decrease in the probability of having
Alzheimer's disease later in life," said Friedland.
