Health news - Higher IQ and active youth reduce risk of dementia
13 July 2005 - written by Michael Paterson for Bupa's health information team
A high IQ and taking part in after-school activities as a teenager may reduce your risk of memory problems in old age, according to a study published in this month's Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.1
What did the study show?
The researchers found that teenagers who had a high IQ at school were less likely to develop dementia and memory problems in later life. They also found that teenagers who were more active at high school had a lower risk of developing dementia as an adult.1
How was the study carried out?
The study included 396 Americans who graduated from the same high school in the 1940s. The researchers used a clinical test to see which of the graduates had dementia or memory problems. They then looked at high school records to find out the teenage IQ levels of the graduates. These ranged from 79 to 1491 - an average IQ is 100.2 The researchers also looked at the sports and activities these people were involved in at school.
What is dementia?
Dementia is a decline, usually gradual, in memory, thinking, problem-solving, concentration and perception.3 The most common type of dementia is Alzheimer's disease, named after the German doctor who first described it in 1907.3 About 55 percent of people with dementia have it.4
For more information about dementia, please see our factsheet:
Bupa factsheet: Dementia
Who gets dementia?
Over 750,000 people in the UK are affected, 18,000 of them are under 65. It affects one person in 20 over the age of 65 and one in five over the age of 80. The number of people with dementia increases with age.4 It is very rare to inherit it.5
What are the symptoms of dementia?
With Alzheimer's disease, the ability to remember, think, speak, make decisions and follow set routines is reduced.6
For more information about Alzheimer's disease, please see our factsheet:
Bupa factsheet: Alzheimer's disease
Sometimes dementia develops following a stroke. Symptoms may include confusion, getting lost in familiar places, incontinence, difficulty handling money, and emotional problems, such as laughing or crying at appropriate times.7
Other sufferers might start seeing things.8 It depends on what sort of dementia they have. Some people hoard things and become obsessive.9
What causes dementia?
Often it is because small areas of the brain die. Researchers do not know why this happens. The brain shrinks and stops working properly.6
Why might there be a link between IQ and dementia?
It could be that people with a high IQ have brains which can cope with a little damage and still work properly.1 It could be that a low IQ at any age might be linked to the very earliest stages of dementia.1 Researchers are unsure.1
Why might there be a link between activity levels and dementia?
It could be that leisure activities that require brain power also develop the brain so that it can cope better with the type of damage caused by dementia.1 More research is needed.
What is the treatment for dementia?
There is no cure yet, but drugs can slow the brain damage. Current trials with Vitamin E aim to test if it can stop brain cells from dying.10
What can I do to reduce my risk of developing dementia?
Keep your mind active. Quizzes, crosswords, reading, learning passages or poems, and card games may help against the effects of ageing. It may be that the mind is like a muscle which gets weaker the less it is used.11
The Alzheimer's Society's top ten recommendations for minimising the risk of dementia are:12
- do not smoke
- reduce your intake of saturated fat and salt
- take regular exercise
- drink alcohol in moderation
- eat plenty of fruit and vegetables
- eat oily fish once a week
- have your GP check your blood levels and cholesterol levels
- avoid head injuries
- keep up outside interests and hobbies
- do a daily crossword puzzle
What are the other benefits of physical and mental activity?
Regular physical activity helps to maintain a healthy weight and makes a heart attack less likely.13 Regular walking can even help lift depression.14
Those who take up exercise, even later in life, are less likely to get depressed or have a fall.15 Regular walking can also help keep bones strong for longer.15
For more information on physical activity and ageing, please see out article:
Bupa article: Physical activity and ageing
Bupa Information
- Bupa factsheet: Dementia
- Bupa factsheet: Alzheimer's disease
- Bupa article: Physical activity and ageing
Further information
- Alzheimer's Society
020 7306 0606
www.alzheimers.org.uk - Mental Health Foundation
020 7803 1100
www.mentalhealth.org.uk
References
- Fritsch T, Smyth KA, McClendon MJ et al. Associations between dementia/mild cognitive impairment and cognitive performance and activity levels in youth. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 2005:1-6.
- IQ levels. Mensa, the High IQ Society.
www.mensa.org - All About Dementia. The Mental Health Foundation, 1997.
www.mentalhealth.org.uk - Facts about dementia. The Alzheimer's Society.
www.alzheimers.org.uk - Is Dementia Inherited? Pick's Disease Support Group.
www.pdsg.org.uk - Alzheimer's Disease. Alzheimer's Disease International.
www.alz.co.uk - Glossary: The Newsletter of the Memory Loss Project at Rutgers University.
www.memorylossonline.com - NINDS Dementia with Lewy bodies information page. National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.
www.ninds.nih.gov - Pick's disease. Pick's Disease Support Group.
www.pdsg.org.uk - About Alzheimer's. Alzheimer's Research Trust.
www.alzheimers-research.org.uk - Memory and Dementia. The Royal College of Psychiatrists.
www.rcpsych.ac.uk - Mind your head, Alzheimer's Awareness Week July 6 - 12 2003. The Alzheimer's Society.
www.alzheimers.org.uk - Why is physical activity so important for your heart? British Heart Foundation.
www.bhf.org.uk - Can physical activity improve the mental health of older adults? Annals of General Hospital Psychiatry 2004;3:12.
www.annals-general-psychiatry.com - Physical activity and the prevention and management of falls among older adults. The British Heart Foundation National Centre for Physical Activity and Health.
www.bhfactive.org.uk
All pages were accessed on 8 July 2005.
