Neurology: it's terrible to be illiterate! The risk of dementia in illiterate people is three times higher than in the normal population!

November 18, 2019 / BIOON / -- recently, an international journal was published in neurology In the previous research report, scientists from Columbia University and other institutions found that the risk of dementia among illiterate people (people who have never learned to read or write) is nearly three times higher than that among people with literacy; according to the statistics of the US Department of education, there are about 32 million illiterate people in the US Photo source: Jennifer J cc0 public domain researcher Manly said that having reading and writing ability can help people to participate in more brain using activities, such as reading newspapers, helping children and grandchildren to guide homework, etc.; previous research results showed that such activities can reduce the risk of dementia in individuals In this study, we provide evidence that reading and writing may be an important factor to help maintain a healthy brain In this study, the researchers studied people living in the northern part of Manhattan who had a lower level of education Many people were born and grew up in rural areas of the Dominican Republic, and their access to education was very limited 983 people with an average age of 77 were included in the study, and each participant had no more than four years of schooling The researchers asked Everyone: have you ever learned to read and write? They were then divided into two groups, 237 illiterate and 746 literate At the beginning of the study, the researchers conducted medical examination and memory and thinking test for participants, and at the same time, they conducted the above tests during the follow-up every 18 months to 2 years The tests included recalling unrelated words, and asking participants to create as many words as possible in a given category (such as fruit or clothing) The researchers found that 83 (35%, 83 / 237) of illiterate people had dementia at the beginning of the study, and 134 (18%, 134 / 746) of literate people had dementia; when adjusting factors such as age, socio-economic status and cardiovascular disease, the researchers found that those who could not read and write (Illiterate) people had dementia at the beginning of the study The risk can be nearly three times higher Among participants who did not have dementia at the start of the study, after a four-year follow-up, they found that 114 (48%) of 237 illiterate people had dementia; 201 (27%) of 746 literate people had dementia; and after adjusting for factors such as age, socioeconomic status and cardiovascular disease, the researchers found that during the study period People who can't read and write are twice as likely to develop dementia as people who can When the researchers assessed participants' language, speed, spatial and reasoning abilities, they found that adult illiterates scored lower at the beginning of the study, but their test scores did not decline at a faster rate as the study progressed; the researchers said that individuals' reading and writing abilities were directly related to higher scores in memory and thinking tests, not just reading and language The results of the tests are related, and relevant research shows that reading may help enhance brain function in many ways, which can help prevent or slow down the occurrence of dementia Researchers say that even with a few years of educational experience, people who learn literacy may have better lifelong advantages than those who don't; later researchers need to conduct more in-depth research to add more resources to the program of teaching people to read and write, so as to help effectively reduce the risk of dementia in the population One limitation of this study is that the researchers did not ask how or when literate participants learned to write and read Original source: Miguel Arce renter í a, M.J vonk, Gloria Felix, et al Intelligence, dementia risk, and cognitive trajectories along older results with low education, Neurology (2019) doi: 10.1212/wnl.0000000000008587