Priscilla Du Preez 🇨🇦 on Unsplash” />.According to Alzheimer’s Research UK, around 982,000 people are estimated to be living with dementia in the UK.and this number is expected to rise to 1.4 million by 2040Additionally, one in two of us will be affected by dementia in our lifetime. Either by caring for someone with the condition, developing it ourselves, or both.Now, a new study published by the American Academy of Neurology has found that a decline in thinking skills and memory can be staved off by regularly reading and writing.Dementia risk reduced by 40% for those who regularly read and writeTracking data from 1,939 individuals over the course of 8 years who did not have dementia at the start of the study, the researchers reviewed the participants’ childhoods, looking at factors such as access to encyclopaedias, globes, atlases, and books, whether they were read to, or if they learned a language.They also looked at later in life factors such as income levels, access to reading materials, library memberships and enriching, educational activities such as museum visits. What the researchers found was that those with the highest levels of lifetime learning developed Alzheimer’s disease five years later than those with the lowest amount. Study author Andrea Zammit, PhD, of Rush University Medical Centre in Chicago said: “Our findings are encouraging, suggesting that consistently engaging in a variety of mentally stimulating activities throughout life may make a difference in cognition.“Public investments that expand access to enriching environments, like libraries and early education programs designed to spark a lifelong love of learning, may help reduce the incidence of dementia.“Our findings suggest that cognitive health in later life is strongly influenced by lifelong exposure to intellectually stimulating environments.”What a great reason to get involved with the free learning available to us in the UK! Museums are free throughout the UK and a library membership can bring physical, audio and e-books into your life at no cost. Related…The Generous Act That Can Slow Brain AgeingHow A Dementia Research Leader Protects His Brain HealthI Tried Reading Before Bed For A Week To See If It Helped My Insomnia HuffPost UK – Athena2 – All Entries (Public) Read More