A groundbreaking study led by Dr. Robert Friedland, a neurologist at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine in Cleveland, has combined mental, physical and even social activities in adults, and compared activity levels with the rate of Alzheimer's disease. Dr. Friedland's study used a questionnaire to collect biographical information from 193 older adults with Alzheimer's disease and 358 elderly people who were healthy. The average age of the participants was in their early 70s. Researchers focused on 26 lifetime "non-occupational activities," such as playing a musical instrument, gardening, engaging in physical activities and even playing mentally engaging board games, and found that the more active adults were significantly less likely to develop Alzheimer's disease later in life. What's more, the study asked for information about their habits at different times during their lives, broken down by decades. The findings are an inspiration even to those who spent their youth being TV-addicted couch potatoes and now wonder if it's too late to start building mental reserves.
Dr. Friedland's study found that the healthy older adults had been more mentally and physically active between the ages of 40 and 60 than those who later developed Alzheimer's disease. Intellectual activities were especially important. "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," says Dr. Friedland.
This study built on other research that suggests a link between one's educational level and the risk of Alzheimer's disease (a higher educational level has been associated with a lower risk of Alzheimer's disease). Those studies may have been discouraging to adults who lacked educational opportunities in their youth. The Case Western Reserve study, however, showed that it's never too late to start building intellectual muscle—stimulating hobbies have a pay-off regardless of the age they are started.
Dr. Amir Soas, a co-investigator in the Cleveland study, advises Baby Boomers who want to lower their chances of developing Alzheimer's disease later on to "Read, read, read. Do crossword puzzles. Pull out the chessboard or Scrabble. Learn a foreign language or a new hobby." In other words, do anything that engages your mind and body. Perhaps the toughest advice for our sedentary society, however, is turn off the TV. "When you watch television, your brain goes into neutral," says Dr. Soas.
Reviewed on 2/14/2007