Posted on Thu, Mar. 19, 2009
Matthew M. F. Miller
Doctors soon could be prescribing a daily dose of Monopoly to keep their patients' minds healthy for life.
A new study from the Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn., found that for patients over 70, reading books, playing games, participating in computer activities and doing crafts, such as pottery or quilting, in middle age led to a 30-50 percent decrease in the risk of developing memory loss compared to people who did not engage in these activities.
"This study is exciting because it demonstrates that aging does not need to be a passive process. By simply engaging in cognitive exercise, you can protect against future memory loss," says Yonas Geda, MD, a neuropsychiatrist at Mayo Clinic and author of the study. "Of course, the challenge with this type of research is that we are relying on past memories of the participants, therefore, we need to confirm these findings with additional research."
Geda and her team examined 197 people, ages 70-89, that had mild cognitive impairment or diagnosed memory loss, and 1,124 people from the same age group with no memory issues.
Study participants who watched television for fewer than seven
hours daily in later years were 50 percent less likely to develop memory loss than those who watched in excess of seven hours a day. Similarly, participants that engaged in social activities and read magazines during middle age were about 40 percent less likely to develop memory loss than those who did not participate.
The study, supported by the National Institutes of Health, will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology's 61st Annual Meeting in Seattle at the end of April.
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