The old saying, "TV rots your brain," could have some validity for folks as they age.
In a new study, middle-aged people who watched television for more than 3.5 hours a day experienced a decline in their ability to remember words and language over the next six years, British researchers found.
What's worse, it appears that the more TV you watch, the more your verbal memory will deteriorate, researchers said.
"Overall, our results suggests that adults over the age of 50 should try and ensure television viewing is balanced with other contrasting activities," said lead researcher Daisy Fancourt. She's a senior research fellow at University College London.
For the study, researchers relied on data from a long-term study of aging involving more than 3,600 residents of England.
Participants reported the amount of hours of TV they watched daily. They also had their thinking and reasoning skills regularly tested as part of the study.
People who watched less than 3.5 hours of TV a day didn't seem to suffer any deterioration in their brain power, Fancourt said.
But more than that amount, people became increasingly apt to struggle with words or language in tests conducted six years later.
The decline in language skills is similar to that experienced by the poor as they age, Fancourt said.
"We already know from a number of studies that being of low socio-economic status is a risk factor for cognitive decline," Fancourt said. "If we compare the size of association for watching television for greater than 3.5 hours a day, it has a similar-sized association with verbal memory as being in the lowest 20 percent of wealth in the country."
The worst deficits occurred in those people who watched more than seven hours of television daily, researchers found.
While only an association was seen in the study, there are a couple of potential reasons why this might happen.
"Due to the fast-paced changes in images, sounds and action, yet the passive nature of receiving these -- i.e., television does not involve interaction as gaming or using the internet does -- watching television has been shown in laboratory studies to lead to a more alert, but less focused, brain," Fancourt explained.
Some TV viewing is also stressful, and stress has been associated with a decline in brain power, she added.
The specific effect on verbal skills indicates that avid TV viewing could be replacing other activities that would be better for the brain, said Rebecca Edelmayer, director of scientific engagement at the U.S.-based Alzheimer's Association.
"You're spending more time not engaging with your family, your friends and having social conversations, because they're specifically reporting a decrease in verbal recall," Edelmayer said. "We know engagement with others in conversation is something that supports and protects verbal recall."
People who want to protect their thinking skills need to socialize often and engage in other activities that "stretch" their brain, Edelmayer said.
In fact, a long-term study
ed just last week in the journal Neurology found that exercising both the brain and body during middle age may guard against dementia. Such mental exercise includes reading, playing music, sewing or painting, according to the report.
"The recommendation would always be to stretch yourself and stay as engaged as you can be, whatever the connection is," Edelmayer said. "We're asking you for best brain health to go outside your normal passive box."
The new study was
ed Feb. 28 in the journal Scientific Reports.
Having good heart-lung fitness in middle age could lower men's long-term risk of developing and dying from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), a new study finds.
ReplyDeleteCOPD includes respiratory conditions that narrow the airways, such as emphysema and bronchitis. Smoking is the main risk factor for COPD, the fourth-leading cause of death worldwide, according to the World Health Organization.
This study included more than 4,700 healthy middle-aged men in Denmark who were recruited between 1970 and 1971. Their average age at the time was 49.
They provided information about their lifestyle habits and medical history, and their heart and lung (cardiorespiratory) fitness was assessed.
The men were tracked for up to 46 years, with overall follow-up ending in 2016.
Compared to those who had low heart-lung fitness in middle age, COPD risk was 21% lower in those who had normal fitness and 31% lower in those whose heart-lung fitness was high.
The risk of death followed a similar trend. Compared to those who had low heart-lung fitness, the risk of dying from COPD was 35% lower in those who had normal fitness and 62% lower in those whose heart-lung fitness was high.
Those who had high fitness levels stayed healthier and had longer lives, as well -- up to 1.5 to 2 years longer, according to the study published online June 18 in the journal Thorax.
The findings suggest that physical activity should be encouraged in adults in order "to delay development, progression and death from COPD," said Dr. Gorm Mork Hansen in a journal news release. Hansen is from Herlev-Gentofte University Hospital in Copenhagen, Denmark.
The researchers said their findings add to previous studies showing that high levels of physical activity are associated with a reduced risk of COPD, and that a sedentary lifestyle may speed progression of the disease.
The study only showed an association and not causation. Links between heart-lung fitness and COPD aren't clear, but inflammation linked to inactivity may play an important role, according to the researchers.