Reading more may help reduce risk of dementia

Reading really does nourish the mind. A study has found that people who are literate had a third the risk of developing dementia compared with those who had never learnt to read and write.

Study researchers suggest that learning to read may reveal new intellectual worlds and promote a life of the mind that might help to keep brains sharp into old age.

‘‘If one acquires the ability to read and write, that opens up opportunities to engage in cognitively stimulating activities,’’ Miguel Arce Renteria, of Columbia University Medical Centre, said. ‘‘Even with low education, you can read newspapers and books. That provides opportunities for constant stimulation, that can last for the rest of your life. Maybe that might confer protection and mitigate the effects of dementia.’’

The research, published in the journal looked at almost 1000 older people in New York, chosen because they had received little education as children. The average age was 77, and more than 90 per cent were immigrants. All of them had had four years or less of education, with about a quarter describing themselves as illiterate.

Among those who did not read, 35 per cent had dementia at the start of the study, increasing to 48 per cent four years later. Among the literate respondents, 18 per cent had dementia at the outset, rising to 27 per cent.

After adjusting for social class, age and other risk factors, the scientists calculated that illiterate people were three times more likely to have dementia. They were also twice as likely to contract it over the four years of the investigation.

It is impossible to say for certain that the link means that literacy staves off dementia. It may be that people who managed to get a better education before arriving in the US were also different in other ways. ‘‘What this provides is strong evidence for a pretty strong link,’’ Dr Arce Renteria said. ‘‘Quite a bit of research already shows greater years of education protect individuals from developing dementia. Similar findings suggest higher reading levels could perhaps also have a benefit.’’ –