Chores reduce dementia risk

Doing household chores like cooking, cleaning and gardening could reduce the risk of developing dementia. People who did these tasks regularly were 21 per cent less likely to be diagnosed with the illness than those who did not, according to research by Sichuan University in China.

Researchers studied 500,000 people in the UK Biobank who did not have dementia, and collected information on which chores they did.

Over 11 years, they found those who were more active in the home were less likely to develop the illness. Visiting family and friends regularly, and doing exercise were also shown to decrease the risk.