Lifetime of good habits reduces dementia risk

Do puzzles and other activities or apps that claim to lower one’s risk of developing dementia actually work? Are there other things people can do to decrease the risk?

Doing activities that stimulate your brain may reduce your risk of developing dementia. But it’s more complex than taking up puzzles at age 65. Research suggests the value of cognitively stimulating activities builds up over a lifetime. That means acquiring a good education, working in a job that is mentally stimulating, and engaging in pastimes, hobbies and social activities that are mentally engaging are all part of reducing your risk for developing dementia.

Studies have shown that the more years of education a person has, the lower the dementia risk. This appears to be because people who spend more time engaged in learning across their lifetime tend to develop more robust networks of nerve cells and connections between those nerve cells within their brains. Those networks are better equipped to handle the cell damage that can happen as a result of brain disorders that may lead to dementia.

In addition to participating in activities that are mentally engaging, avoiding conditions that increase heart attacks and strokes also reduces your risk of dementia. Maintaining healthy levels of cholesterol and blood pressure, avoiding diabetes, not smoking, staying at a healthy weight and exercising regularly all have been shown to improve cognitive health later in life. Again, however, it’s best if you make them components of a healthy lifestyle in your younger years and sustain them as you get older. That’s because all of them affect the health of the blood vessels in your brain.