Brain games
Keeping your brain active is one of the most important things you can do for lessening the risk of developing dementia. Not only is good brain health important for all aspects of your life, it's also good for preventing dementia. Not only are Sudoku, Bridge, Scrabble, crosswords, word puzzles and other kinds of "brain games" important for brain health, but learning new skills at any age helps to keep the grey matter active. Learning a new language, taking up a new hobby and keeping socially active are all ways to keep the brain healthy.
Social interaction lessens risk of dementia
Two new recent studies have linked an active social life to a reduced risk of dementia. A Harvard School of Public Health study discovered that older people with an active social life have less risk of developing memory problems. Data was gathered from 1998 to 2004 from Americans aged 50 and older. Each year of the study a list of nouns was read to participants who were asked to recall the answers after a five minute delay. The degree of "socialness" was measured in martial status, contact with parents, children and neighbours and volunteer activities. The participants with the highest level of social integration had the slowest rate of memory decline. The other study discovered those living with a partner or spouse in middle age had a 50 per cent less risk of getting dementia than those living by themselves. The Finland-based study tracked 2,000 people over the age of 50 and caught up with them 21 years later. The greatest risk for dementia was in people who lost their partner before middle age. Lead author of the study, psychology researcher Krister Hakansson says the study suggests two influencing factors, social and intellectual stimulation and trauma. One way to increase your social interaction is to sign up with our Facebook account. 
New hobbies
Taking up quilting was one activity offered at a trial at the National Institute of Aging in the United States to determine whether taking up a new task in older age slows mental decline, writes Anne Underwood on the New York Times' New Old Age Blog. "Quilting is a very abstract task," says trial leader, cognitive neuroscientist Dr. Denise Park. "You have to picture what the pattern will look like, match fabrics, manipulate geometric forms and mentally rotate objects." Read more here.
Language skills and dementia
New research suggests people with superior language skills are less likely to develop Alzheimer's disease.
Researchers at John Hopkins University in Baltimore studied the brains of 38 Catholic nuns and found those with good language skills early in life were less likely to have memory problems, even in those who died with dementia. Lead researcher Dr Juan Troncoso says the research is fascinating. "Our results show that an intellectual ability test in the early 20s may predict the likelihood of remaining cognitively normal five or six decades later, even in the presence of a large amount of Alzheimer's disease pathology." However, chief executive of the United Kingdom's Alzheimer's Research Trust Rebecca Wood said there were exceptions to this research, such as writers with "linguistic brilliance" like Terry Pratchett and Iris Murdoch, both diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease.