According to a new study in Neurology, leisure activities such as physical exercise, yoga, reading books, and spending time with loved ones may reduce the risk of dementia.
As part of a meta-analysis published by the American Academy of Neurology, 38 studies were reviewed with a total of over 2 million subjects without dementia.
The subjects were provided questionnaires to gather more information about their leisure activities.
Over a span of at least three years, at least 74,000 of the subjects went on to develop dementia. Those who initiated leisure activities were at a 17 percent lower risk of developing dementia than those who did not.
“This meta-analysis suggests that being active has benefits, and there are plenty of activities that are easy to incorporate into daily life that may be beneficial to the brain,” said one of the study’s authors in a news release.
“Our research found that leisure activities may reduce the risk of dementia. Future studies should include larger sample sizes and longer follow-up time to reveal more links between leisure activities and dementia.”
