On Monday, researchers revealed that a randomized controlled trial, which is regarded as the gold standard for medical research, has finally found a substance that can dramatically reduce a person’s risk of dementia.
Additionally, the study found that a basic and inexpensive brain-training activity reduced dementia rates by 25% instead of using a costly medication.
Marilyn Albert, a co-author of the study from Johns Hopkins University in the United States, told AFP, “This is a gold-standard study that’s given us an idea of what we can do to reduce risk for developing dementia for the first time.”
Few high-quality, long-term studies have demonstrated the efficacy of the numerous brain-training games and applications that make the claim to prevent cognitive decline.
The US group of researchers cautioned that their study does not imply that all brain-training games are beneficial because it only discovered that one particular kind of training had an impact.
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In the late 1990s, their trial, known as ACTIVE, got underway.
One of three brain training modalities—speed, memory, or reasoning—or a control group was randomly allocated to almost 2,800 participants who were 65 years of age or older.
Initially, the participants trained for an hour twice a week for five weeks. One and three years later, they administered four booster treatments. Overall, fewer than twenty-four hours of instruction were given.
The speed training was continually “disproportionately beneficial” at follow-ups after five, ten, and most recently twenty years. “Oh,” Albert replied.
The speed-training and booster sessions were associated with a 25% lower risk of dementia after 20 years, according to Medicare records.
To the surprise of the researchers, there was no statistically significant difference between the other two training styles.
Clicking on cars and road signs that appear in various locations on a computer screen is the speed training activity.
“Extraordinarily important”—but why was speed training so effective? The researchers could only speculate, according to Albert.
Albert stated, “We believe that this training had an impact on something related to brain connectivity.”
One significant distinction was that it changed according to the individual’s ability, becoming easier or more challenging as necessary.
Albert responded, “There aren’t very many,” when asked about the study’s shortcomings. Minorities made up 25% of the participants, indicating that the findings ought to be universal.
Researchers may be able to create a new, more efficient workout in the future if they can pinpoint the precise mechanism underlying speed training’s effectiveness, according to Albert.
But the finding is already “extraordinarily important”, she emphasised, pointing out that reducing dementia among 25 percent of the US population could save $100 billion in patient care.
A better lifestyle has been linked to a lower incidence of dementia, according to a number of prior research. However, unlike randomized controlled trials, this study is observational and cannot explicitly show cause and effect.
According to the World Health Organization, dementia is the seventh biggest cause of mortality worldwide, affecting 57 million people.
“Double Decision” is the name of the speed training problem, which can be accessed through the BrainHQ app.
Alzheimer’s and Dementia: Translational Research & Clinical Research is the journal where the study was published.
