Education and Alzheimer's Disease

The answer is this week's sound medicine health quiz is A, as in Alzheimer's disease. Reading, doing crossword puzzles, and taking classes will all help your brain function better for a longer period of time, and may help prevent Alzheimer's disease.

The Religious Orders Study conducted at Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke's Medical Center kept tabs on 900 older nuns, priests and brothers whose schooling ranged from sixth grade to doctorate degrees.

The study found that people who enjoyed solving crossword puzzles, reading books and other kinds of mental stimulation had lower rates of Alzheimer's disease. In general, those people who had the most schooling had better memory and general intellectual functions than their less-educated counterparts. In fact, some of the participants already had the plaque on the brain that is a sign of Alzheimer's. But the brains of those who had advanced schooling or significant mental stimulation had adapted new ways to circumvent that plaque, and their mental capabilities were still thriving.

Resources:

Read more about the Religious Orders Study.

A recent study suggests that the number of people with Alzheimer's disease is rising dramatically.

Learn more about Alzheimer's disease, including symptoms, treatment, and the disease's various stages.

October 4, 2003