A lot of research is happening on DEMENTIA, especially on Alzheimer’s disease. It is one fear that many people hold within as they age. The fear of losing one’s memory and becoming completely dependent on others for day-to-day activities is terrifying for many elders. Actually, Dementia is not a specific disease but is rather a general term for the impaired ability to remember, think, or make decisions that interfere with doing everyday activities. Alzheimer’s disease is the most common type of dementia. Though dementia mostly affects elders, it is not a part of normal aging. Actually, medical science does not have any concrete answers as to why it occurs or what can be done to avoid it completely.
Here are some credible interesting findings on Dementia studies from across the world:
- Link found between a diet high in ultra-processed foods and a higher risk of Dementia.
- Vigorous physical activity, whether done for leisure, regular household activity, or as part of daily work, is linked to a lower risk of Dementia.
- Taking a multivitamin daily may help slow cognitive decline in elders.
- Walking about 10,000 steps daily with higher intensity would be optimal for reducing Dementia risk.
For your information, Cognitive Decline is the self-reported experience of worsening or more frequent confusion or memory loss.
Do Brain Exercises Help?
Research suggests that when people keep their minds active, there are fewer chances of cognitive decline. The various brain activities based on this deduction include puzzles based on memory and reasoning skills. By doing this, possibly the symptoms may get delayed because the brain has been kept active. Therefore, people with active minds are likely to spend less time with cognitive decline.
An active mind reduces the brain damage that can happen due to Alzheimer’s disease. It also supports the growth of new cells. Also, there is prompt messaging among the cells. Experts believe there is some link between the strengthening of messaging between cells due to brain activity that is possibly helping prevent the delay of Dementia. There is also a chance that the new cells being generated act as reserve cells.
Brain Exercises That Help
So, what brain exercises should one be doing to stay mentally active? One can start with puzzles such as word puzzles that test reasoning skills, jigsaw puzzles, crosswords, Sudoku, memory games, etc. Spend at least 15 to 20 minutes every day doing these activities. The next best thing to keep your mind active is to start learning something new. It could be some skill, a language, a musical instrument, or even a formal educational course. These activities keep your brain sharp.
There are fun ways to keep your mind sharp as well. Play some board games may be with grandkids. It could be board games like Ludo, Checkers, Monopoly, and lastly chess which is the best brain activity. Even some amount of regular reading and writing can help improve your cognitive capabilities. These days everything is online and available through apps on mobile. There are word games like Wordle, if you love Math, you could try teaching kids or simply pick up and solve some sums every day. Even drawing maps or identifying different tastes is a fun activity to help keep your brain sharp.
The overall message is that if you got to keep your brain healthy, you have got to use it, or you may lose it. There is good reason to start exercising the brain and stay fit mentally to keep Dementia at bay. Get going, start solving and start learning.
I am also a senior citizen in the 70+ age group. To keep me active and occupied, I read and write, solve crosswords, Sudoko, and play online games like Wordle, Word with friends, and many more. Hope this will help in keeping my cognitive decline at bay for some more time.
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Anil Malik
Mumbai, India
4th October 2022