People who pursue leisure activities in later life have a reduced risk of dementia.

It's already been noted that those who participate in leisure activity such as reading and playing musical instruments are less likely to develop Alzheimer's disease. But it is not clear whether the brain stimulation produced by leisure activity reduces the risk, or whether the onset of dementia reduces participation in such activity.

To settle the question, researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York, followed a group of 469 subjects aged 75 or more, and free of dementia at the start. They logged the weekly participation in leisure activities, as well as measuring the extent of mental and physical activity. Over the next five years, 124 subjects developed either Alzheimer's disease, vascular dementia or some other kind of dementia.

Analysis showed that leisure activity and mental activity both reduced the risk of Alzheimer's disease. This was true, even when pre-clinical dementia was allowed for. But physical activity did not protect against dementia. The way is now open for trials where people are 'prescribed' leisure activities with a strong mental component to see if these protect from dementia.

Source

New England Journal of Medicine 19th June 2003