This Tool Could Help Prevent Dementia

"With dementia now estimated to impact 42 percent of people who make it past age 55, everyone should be taking steps to help decrease their risk for developing the condition. Yet while much of the conversation focuses on supplements, diet, and pharmaceuticals, one of the less publicized tools to mitigate risk could be one of the most important. For background, it's key to understand that, as it relates to dementia, brain changes can begin decades before a person experiences symptoms of cognitive decline."

"A major breakthrough in unpacking this complexity came from a 1994 study in the Journal of the American Medical Association ( JAMA). In this publication, Yaakov Stern and his co-investigators looked at about 600 healthy adults aged 60 years or older and followed them for up to four years to look for the development of dementia. They discovered that people who had more formal education or more complex occupations had a significantly lower chance (less than half) of developing dementia."

Cognitive decline can begin decades before symptoms of dementia appear, yet many people with dementia-related brain changes never develop clinical dementia. Differences in clinical severity despite similar pathology are explained by cognitive reserve, which accrues from factors such as education, complex occupations, and lifelong learning. A 1994 longitudinal study found that people with more formal education or complex work had less than half the risk of developing dementia over four years. Activities that build brain networks — including physical exercise, strong social ties, and novel experiences — can increase cognitive reserve and delay or reduce the clinical onset of dementia.

Read at Psychology Today