Learn to read!
Illiteracy increases the risk of dementia
Sergey Syrov, XX2 century
A study has shown that completely illiterate people (who have never learned to read and write) are almost three times more at risk of developing dementia than literate people.
The research materials are published in the online version of the journal Neurology (Rentería et al., Literacy, dementia risk, and cognitive trajectories among older adults with low education).
In the USA, things are bad with universal literacy – about 32 million adults are illiterate (in Russia, according to official data, the bill goes to hundreds of thousands).
"The ability to read and write allows people to engage in more active activities that require brain work, such as reading newspapers and helping children and grandchildren with homework," says the author of the work, Jennifer J. Manly. – Previous studies have shown that such activities can reduce the risk of developing dementia. Our new study provides more evidence that reading and writing may be important factors in helping to maintain brain health."
The study examined people with a low level of education living in Northern Manhattan. Many of them were born and raised in rural areas of the Dominican Republic, where access to education is limited. The study involved 983 people with an average age of 77 years. The researchers asked the question: "Have you ever learned to read or write?"
The subjects were divided into two groups: 237 people were illiterate and 746 were literate.
Participants underwent medical examinations and passed memory and thinking tests at the beginning of the study and at subsequent visits to doctors, which were conducted every 18-24 months. Testing included memorizing unrelated words and naming as many items of a certain category as possible (for example, fruits or clothes).
The researchers found that of the illiterate people, 83 out of 237 people (35%) had dementia at the beginning of the study. Of the 746 literates, 134 (18%) suffered from dementia. After adjusting for age, socioeconomic status, and cardiovascular disease, people who could not read and write were almost three times more likely to have dementia at the start of the study.
Among participants without signs of dementia at the beginning of the study, during follow-up, an average of 114 out of 237 illiterate (48%) developed dementia after four years. Among literate people, cognitive impairment was diagnosed in 201 out of 746 people (27%). After adjusting for age, socioeconomic status, and cardiovascular disease, the researchers found that people who could not read and write were twice as likely to develop dementia during the study.
"Our study also found that literacy is associated with higher scores on memory and thinking tests in general, not just reading and language," says Manley. "These results suggest that reading can help strengthen the brain in many ways, which may help prevent or delay the onset of dementia."
According to Manley, even primary education, the ability to read and write, gives a lifelong advantage over completely illiterate people.
The disadvantage of the study, and the authors warn about it, can be considered that literate subjects did not report how and when they learned to read and write.
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