There are shared concerns among aging people about the possibility of memory loss. There are effective manners in which you can strive to maintain a healthy brain and good memory as you age. The American Academy of Neurology reported, that arts, crafts and computer use can help to preserve your memory. Researchers have found that people who participate in arts and craft activities and who socialize as they age may delay the development in very old age of memory problems which often lead to dementia.
This research is significant because people who are 85 years and older make up the quickest growing age group in the United States and across the world. Study author Rosebud Roberts, MB, ChB, MS, of Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota says that as millions of elderly adults in the United States are reaching the age where they may experience a memory and thinking problem called Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) it is important to determine possible lifestyle changes that may prevent this condition. This study is seen by Roberts as supporting the idea that engaging the mind may protect neurons, which are the building blocks of the brain, from dying. Growth of new neurons may also be stimulated while new neurons are recruited to maintain cognitive activities in old age.
In the study participants who took part in arts in both middle and old age were found to be 73 percent less likely to develop MCI than those participants who did not report engaging in any artistic activities. Those participants who crafted in middle and old age were found to be 45 percent less likely to develop MCI. Participants who socialized in middle and old age were found to be 55 percent less likely to develop MCI in comparison to those who did not engage in such activities. Of great significance during this high tech era has been that computer use in later life was found to associated with a 53 percent decreased risk of MCI.
This study has been published in the journal Neurology. The goal of this study was to determine risk and protective factors for MCI in persons 85 years and older. It was concluded that chronic disease burden increases the risk of MCI. It was also found that certain lifestyle factors decrease risk for MCI in persons 85 years and older. It therefore appears that preventive strategies for MCI may need to be started in midlife and should continue throughout life.
Keeping this in mind it should be noted that seeing psychiatrists can clearly lead to MCI and even more serious cognitive problems. As often well reported upon by the Citizens Commission on Human Rights psychiatry is a highly destructive discipline which actually severely hurts the mental well being of men, women and children. Psychiatrists consistently wipe out the academic, career and financial interests of people while drugging them with toxic drugs which can actually cause brain damage. The empty vacuum which psychiatrists strive to leave people’s lives in to try to make them dependent on them clearly can cause serious cognitive problems. So remember while keeping an active mind as you age it’s also important to try to stay away from psychiatrists in order to maintain a healthy brain.
