Leisure Activities May Lower Dementia Risk

• Updated on: 2022-09-06
• Read original article here

 
AARP
Whether it’s taking a bike ride, reading a book or having dinner with friends, leisure appears to be beneficial to your cognitive health, according to a review of dozens of research studies from around the globe.
The metanalysis, published in the online issue of  Neurology , found that participation in physical, mental or social activities appeared to lower the risk of dementia among more than 2 million adults, who participated in 38 research studies that were reviewed. “Our research found that leisure activities like making crafts, playing sports or volunteering were linked to a reduced risk of dementia,” study author Lin Lu, president of Peking University Sixth Hospital and director of Peking University Institute for Mental Health in Beijing, said in a statement.
Join Now
Adults in the studies were followed for at least three years. Those who engaged in leisure activities had a 17 percent lower risk of developing dementia than those who did not, according to the analysis.
Meanwhile, a separate study published in  JAMA Network Open  in 2022 finds that older adults who walk, jog, swim laps, play tennis or engage in other leisure activities may have a lower risk of death from any cause, as well as death from heart disease. Taken together, the research demonstrates the importance for older adults to engage in leisure activities that they enjoy and can sustain.
“Although we report differences between the associations of activity types with mortality, all types of activity were associated with lower mortality risk; therefore, finding an activity that older, inactive individuals enjoy (and so may sustain) is likely of a greater benefit than choosing a particular activity based on the differences between risk estimates reported,” the researchers wrote in JAMA.
Not all leisure is equal
Although all mental, physical and social activities provide some brain benefits , the researchers found that participating in mental pursuits may have the greatest impact on lowering the odds of dementia. Here’s the breakdown.
AARP NEWSLETTERS
LinkedIn
Mental activities A 23 percent lower risk of dementia was found among participants whose pastimes included reading books, magazines or newspapers; watching television; listening to the radio; doing calligraphy; playing cards or checkers; doing crossword puzzles or other puzzles; playing musical instruments; browsing the internet; painting; and engaging in handicrafts.
Physical activities A 17 percent lower risk of dementia was found among participants whose activities included walking for exercise , hiking, jogging or running, swimming, stair climbing, bicycling, using exercise machines, playing ballgames or racket sports, participating in group exercises, doing qigong or yoga, performing calisthenics and dancing.
Health & Wellness
See All
See more Health & Wellness offers >

Social activities A 7 percent lower risk of dementia was found among participants whose activities included attending an interest class, joining a social center, participating in volunteer work, meeting relatives or friends, attending religious activities and participating in organized group discussions.
“This meta-analysis suggests that being active has benefits, and there are plenty of activities that are easy to incorporate into daily life that may be beneficial to the brain,” Lu said.
He noted that the metanalysis had limitations, including that study participants were not followed for very long. Over a third of the studies had a follow-up of less than six years. Future studies would benefit from involving a greater number of participants, with follow-ups done over a longer time, he suggested. Lu also stated in the report that only a handful of studies in the analysis included social activities and that it was not possible to investigate the extent to which participants engaged in all three types of activities, making it difficult to ascertain “the real impact” that participation in social hobbies has on lowering dementia risk.
Other researchers caution that the cause-and-effect relationship isn’t so clear. A study published in  The Lancet  last year noted that “long before dementia is diagnosed, there is a progressive reduction in various mental and physical activities, chiefly because its gradual onset causes inactivity, not because inactivity causes dementia.”
The Lancet study included roughly 850,000 women in the United Kingdom who were followed for up to 16 years. Associations between nonparticipation in leisure activities and dementia did not hold up over time.  
AARP NEWSLETTERS