Keeping dementia at bay, the online way

The next time around, you see your aging parents or grandparents reluctant to spend sometime on the internet — don’t ignore them. Instead, take sometime out to sit with them, get them online and ensure they indulge in Instagram or Facebook.

A healthy lifestyle, regular exercise and balanced diet are important to keep dementia at bay. But spending sometime on the internet everyday may be beneficial too.
A study published recently in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society suggests that older people who regularly used the internet were less likely to develop dementia. The researchers saw this association after about eight years, tracking 18,154 adults between the ages of 50 and 65 who did not have dementia when the study period began.
“This observation is interesting. However, it is not unexpected. Previous experience and research have shown that people who keep their brains actively engaged have a lower risk of developing dementia,” says Dr Sudhir Kumar, Senior Consultant Neurologist, Apollo Hospitals.

Activities such as solving sudoku or crossword puzzles, reading a book, writing a story, or learning a new skill (such as playing a musical instrument) are known to lower the risk of developing dementia.

“Browsing the internet also keeps the brain active. People can read stories about current events on the internet. People can also watch videos to learn a new skill. These activities are better than being idle, or watching TV (where the brain is inactive, as TV viewing is a passive phenomenon),” explains Dr Sudhir Kumar.

Another interesting observation was the U-shaped association between internet use and the risk of developing dementia. “The lowest risk of dementia was observed with 0.1-2 hours of internet use, and the risk of dementia increased if people used internet for more than 2 hours per day. This highlights that too much internet use may adversely affect cognition,” he says.

He, however, warns that Internet browsing for long hours makes one sedentary and sedentary lifestyle is an independent risk factor for dementia. “So, people should avoid browsing the internet for more than two hours, and instead, engage in physical activity such as walking, to further lower the risk of dementia,” he says As part of the study, the researchers also looked at how often these adults were online, from not at all to more than eight hours a day.

Those who used the internet for about two hours or less a day had the lowest risk of dementia compared with those that didn't use the internet, who had a "notably higher estimated risk."

Dr Charan Tej, a Psychiatrist says many studies in the past have shown some association between higher levels of cognitive activity and a lower risk for Dementia for some time. The cognitive activities include reading a newspaper or book, playing board games, solving puzzles, memory games, visiting a library etc. “Repeated engagement in these activities may enhance certain neural pathways that help delay cognitive decline,” informs Dr Tej.

In these activites, cognitive functions like logical reasoning, memory, judgement, language, and attention which are usually effected in dementia are used.

 
“So directly, there is no relation that screen time delays dementia. It’s just that people follow news and do many brain stimulating activities on their phones, hence the disease onset is delayed.”But being on phones for long hours, without any physical activity can cause cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases which can still progress to dementia, warns Dr Tej.

During the study, the researchers noted that people who were online six to eight hours a day had a higher risk of dementia, but that finding wasn't statistically significant and more research is needed.

Highlight

•Activities such as solving sudoku or crossword puzzles, reading a book, writing a story, or learning a new skill (such as playing a musical instrument) are known to lower the risk of developing dementia