A care expert has revealed that a certain 10-minute daily activity could help lower your risk of dementia. This task can help keep your brain “sharp and healthy” into old age.
It’s estimated that around one million people in the UK are currently living with dementia, a number expected to rise to 1.4 million by 2040 if current trends continue. Although there is no guaranteed way to prevent dementia, certain daily activities can support long-term brain health and help reduce the risk, whatever your age.
Care expert Michael Berkley-Blezard from Elmfield Care’s Old Sarum Manor, shared five simple activities and hobbies that help keep the mind active as you grow older and may help reduce the risk of dementia. Among these was the advice to complete a quick daily puzzle such as a sodoku or Wordle.
“One way to keep your brain sharp and healthy is to do puzzles regularly,” Michael said. “Whether it’s playing Wordle before starting your workday, solving a sudoku in bed, or tackling a word search while watching TV, giving your brain a daily workout helps keep it in top condition.
“Puzzles engage multiple parts of the brain simultaneously, including memory, visual, and processing areas of, which helps strengthen and maintain neural connections.”
His advice is supported by two linked studies by the University of Exeter and King’s College London, which were published in the International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry in 2019. This research, involving more than 19,000 participants, found that the more regularly adults aged 50 and over played puzzles such as crosswords and sudoku, the better their brain function.
Dr Anne Corbett, of the University of Exeter Medical School, who led the research, said: “We’ve found that the more regularly people engage with puzzles such as crosswords and Sudoku, the sharper their performance is across a range of tasks assessing memory, attention and reasoning. The improvements are particularly clear in the speed and accuracy of their performance.
“In some areas the improvement was quite dramatic – on measures of problem-solving, people who regularly do these puzzles performed equivalent to an average of eight years younger compared to those who don’t.” However, she cautioned that doing puzzles cannot guarantee a reduced risk of dementia but could help your brain function “better for longer”.
She added: “We can’t say that playing these puzzles necessarily reduces the risk of dementia in later life but this research supports previous findings that indicate regular use of word and number puzzles helps keep our brains working better for longer.”
On top of this advice, Michael shared other tips for keeping the brain healthy as you age.
Staying socially connected
He said: “Social isolation is one of the biggest risk factors linked to developing dementia later in life. Staying socially active, whether it’s spending time with friends or family, or making an effort to get to know your colleagues at work, helps keep your brain active, while also reducing stress and supports the neural pathways that protect against cognitive decline.”
Music
“Music, whether listening to it, playing an instrument or singing, is a great way to keep your brain sharp,” he continued. “This is because musical memory is a powerful type of implicit memory that’s typically hardwired into the brain and is highly resistant to the changes that come with conditions like dementia.
“Scientific studies show that listening to music activates widespread areas of the brain, often reaching regions that other stimuli cannot.”
Learning a language
He said: “Research has found that learning a second language may help delay the onset of dementia. This is thought to be because bilingual people develop greater cognitive reserve, making their brains more resilient to the damage dementia can cause. There are plenty of mobile apps and YouTube videos that make learning a new language affordable and accessible at any age. Dedicating a small amount of time to it every day can help you pick up new phrases and form new neural pathways.”
Reading 20 pages a day
“Reading on a regular basis is a wonderful way to keep your brain active and healthy,” he added. “It provides mental stimulation that strengthens neural pathways and builds cognitive reserve, helping to protect against memory loss as you age.
“Even reading 20 pages a day will help to improve memory and attention, supporting long-term cognitive health. Reading also helps reduce stress, another key factor in maintaining a healthy brain at all stages of life.”
If you or someone you know is experiencing symptoms of dementia, you should speak to a medical professional.
This story originally appeared on Express.co.uk
