14 DAY TRIAL // According to the conclusions of a new study published in BioMed Central’s open-access journal BMC Medicine, it would appear that playing chess, solving math problems or puzzles, and handcrafting items can avert dementia in seniors, or at least slow down its progression.
Studies such this one are extremely important for the future, since statistical predictions are very bleak. Within 40 years, more than 1.1 billion seniors will be at risk of developing dementia, of which 37 million will go on to develop one of the conditions in this spectrum, PsychCentral reports.
The healthcare costs incurred by such an influx of patients will be unmanageable, which is why scientists are working so hard right now to develop prevention and early diagnostics methods against forms dementia, including Alzheimer's disease.
Mind game training can improve cognitive skills and memory, scientists showed in the new study, which makes it harder for dementia to take hold of patient's mind.