Dear Reader,

What do purpose and puzzles have in common? Both have been linked to a significantly decreased risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease. The bottom line appears to be that keeping the brain actively engaged and challenged, coupled with a sense of purpose, can help ward off the devastating disease that affects more than five million Americans each year. In some cases the mental decline is sudden. In others the time between diagnosis and death can take more than a decade. The number of Alzheimer’s and dementia patients is expected to reach 16 million by 2050.

A recent study concluded that people who see themselves as self-disciplined, organized achievers have a significantly lower risk of developing Alzheimer’s than those who don’t. The study, which appeared in this month’s issue of the Archives of General Psychiatry, was conducted at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago. The study concluded that “a purposeful personality” might somehow protect the brain, perhaps by increasing the neural connections that act as a reserve against mental decline.

“This adds to our knowledge that lifestyle, personality, how we think, feel and behave are very closely tied with the risk for this terrible illness,” said Robert Wilson, co-founder of the study. Titled the “Rush Memory and Aging Project,” the study included more than 700 elderly people who were an average of 80 years old. They underwent yearly testing to detect any mental declines. The participants were tested for up to five years and provided information about any current or past problems with their memory or thought processes. “It is likely”, Wilson said, “that mental inactivity is truly a risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease and not simply an early consequence of the disease”. The findings of this study underscore the importance of being mentally active in old age.

Previous studies have linked social connections and stimulating activities such as working puzzles with a lower risk of Alzheimer’s. There are thousands of books and DVDs on the market that claim to offer “brain-boosting” puzzles and games that will keep our brains sharper as we age.

Frequent participation in activities such as going to the library; visiting museums, listening to classical music and attending plays or concerts can make a big difference.  Activities that involve using mental processes are associated with a 60 percent decrease in the incidence of Alzheimer’s disease. A mentally inactive person in old age is 2.6 times more likely to develop Alzheimer’s than one who is mentally active, according to the study.

“Our results suggest that regardless of how mentally active people have been prior to old age, higher levels of mental activity in old age can reduce the risk of developing diseases like Alzheimer’s and dementia,” said Dr. Wilson. 

“The brain is like every other organ in the body,” noted Dr. Robert Friedland, a neurologist at the Case Western Reserve College in Cleveland. “When the brain is involved in learning the health and size and connectivity of neurons is greatly enhanced. Television is used way too frequently by most elderly people. Television represents an activity that is not often intellectual and is not physically challenging.”