A few days back, I wrote about Dementia and Alzheimer’s disease, and today’s blog can be considered a continuation of the same topic.
PREVENTION/DELAYING OF DEMENTIA
A lot of research is happening on dementia and 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 everyday activities is terrifying. What we know is that there is no cure for dementia. However, research and studies have focused their efforts on trying to understand if certain activities, ways of life, supplements, etc., can help delay or prevent dementia. Here are some credible, interesting findings on dementia:
- A link has been found to a diet high in ultra-processed foods and a higher risk of dementia.
- Vigorous physical activity, whether done for leisure, regular household activity, or 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 risks.
One other insight from these studies has shown that is to keep up the cognitive capabilities through brain exercises. The brain is getting most affected, therefore the activities involving the brain help sharpen cognitive functions/capabilities.
( The term cognitive means in simple words- It means relating the mental process involved in knowing, learning, and understanding things)
Do Brain Exercise Help?
Medical 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 memory and reasoning skills. While it does not say that these brain exercises can prevent Alzheimer’s disease, it indicates that 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 cells. Scientists believe there is some link between the strengthening of messaging between cells due to brain activity that is possibly helping the delay of disease onset. There is also a chance that new cells being generated act as reserve cells.
Brain Exercises That Help
For one, start with puzzles such as word puzzles that test reasoning skills, jigsaw puzzles, crosswords, Sudoku, memory games, etc. Spend at least fifteen to twenty minutes every day doing these activities. The next best thing to keep your mind active is to learn something new. It could be a skill, a language, a musical instrument, or even a formal educational course. These help keep your brain sharp.
Other ways to keep your mind sharp are playing games such as Ludo, Checkers, Monopoly, or chess for the best brain activity. If nothing, try some card games like solitaire even. Even some amount of regular reading and writing can help improve your cognitive capabilities. Even a mild exercise activity has been found to improve connectivity in our brain which can help improve cognition.
These days everything is online and available through apps on your mobile. There are word games like Wordle, Words with Friends, etc., that can keep you busy for half an hour a day. If you love Maths, you could try teaching kids or simply pick and solve some sums every day. Even drawing maps or identifying different tastes is a fun activity to help keep your mind sharp.
In the end overall message is that if you have to keep your brain healthy, you have got to use it. Or you may lose it. There is a good reason to start exercising our brains and staying fit mentally to keep dementia at bay. Get going, start solving, and start learning!
Waiting for your views on this blog.
Anil Malik
Mumbai, India
9th October 2023