Protect Yourself from Dementia

Protect yourself from dementia the scourge of the "Golden Years" of retirement that are turning out not so golden for hundreds of thousands of persons succumbing to this this disease after they retire.

In one study conducted by researchers in California they found that if you are physically active during your teen years the monsters of dementia will retreat in your Golden years.

 

Researchers in San Francisco and Ontario included 9,395 women 65 and older in their study. They found that women who were active as teens had much better cognitive scores that those who were more prone to be couch potatoes during their earlier years.

According to the editors of the Journal of The American Geriatric Society who originally published the story, said the researchers did an assessment of these women when in their teens, thirty's and fifties and found that those who were more active during the teen years had better cognitive skills when older. Those who caught the exercise bug in later years did not do as well although those who started when they were in their thirties and continued to exercise did reap some of the benefits.

However, don't be discouraged by the results of these tests which seem to indicate that you have missed the boat if you started an exercise program when you were older than that.

Other studies have shown that a regular exercise program (especially one under a doctor's supervision when you are older) will help to stave off dementia and other cognitive plagues.

The thing to take away from this story is the fact that a good – continued – exercise program involving a sport or activity which you enjoy doing will help to fight dementia when you are older. The important thing is to start to one – and as early in life as possible to protect your mental and physical health throughout your life.

You can find more information on this topic in the Los Angeles Times in the story written by Karen Kaplan and The Vancouver Sun of July 1, 2010 which carried her original feature.