Reducing the risk of dementia
Playing cards, reading books, and engaging in other mentally stimulating activities can help ward off dementia later in life, new research suggests. Scientists tracked more than 15,500 people ages 65 and over in Hong Kong for five years and routinely asked them about the “intellectual activities” they’d engaged in, including reading books and newspapers, playing board games, and even betting on horses. None of the participants had dementia at the start of the study, but by the end more than 1,300 participants had the condition, says Time.com. Researchers found that individuals who performed intellectual activities on a daily basis had a far lower risk of developing cognitive decline than those who did them less often or not at all—even after adjusting for other factors, including physical exercise and fruit and vegetable consumption. “Given the growing older population worldwide,” the study authors write, “promoting regular engagement in intellectual activities might help delay or prevent dementia.”
disease, according to a major new international study. The findings could spare up to 70,000 American women a year from chemo—a regimen of toxic drugs that are meant to kill fast-growing cancer cells but can also cause vomiting, hair loss, fatigue, and in rare cases heart failure and leukemia. The decade-long study involved 10,273 women with hormone receptor– positive, HER2-negative, and axillary node–negative early-stage breast cancer— which accounts for about 50 percent of all cases. All were given a genetic test, Oncotype DX, used to estimate the risk of cancer recurring. About 17 percent of the women had high-risk scores and were advised to have chemo; a similar number had low-risk scores and skipped the treatment. The remaining 67 percent at intermediate risk had surgery and hormone therapy, and half also had chemotherapy. After nine years, 94 percent of both groups were still alive and about 84 percent were cancer free, so adding chemo made no difference. “This is very powerful,” study co-author Ingrid Mayer tells The New York Times. “It really changes the standard of care.”
in risk of dying from cardiovascular disease, reports MarketWatch.com. Upping the pace was even more beneficial for older walkers. Average-pace walkers ages 60 and over experienced a 46 percent reduction in risk of death from heart disease, and fast-pace walkers a 53 percent drop. To get the maximum health benefit, study author Emmanuel Stamatakis recommends, walk “at a pace that makes you slightly out of breath or sweaty when sustained.”