Can A Hand Exercise Really Help Prevent Dementia? I Asked Experts

Hand being exercised with puzzle ballWeaker balance and coordination, and certainly doing less exercise, have been associated with dementia risk before. Frailty and muscle loss seem to be linked to developing the condition, too, though it can be hard to untangle whether it’s a cause or a symptom. So when we saw a video posted to Instagram by chiropractor Dr Suzi Schulman, whose overlaid text claimed a hand exercise was a “key dementia prevention hack,” I was intrigued. Dr Schulman showed herself making a fist with one hand and pointing the fingers of her other, open hand to the balled-up digits; then, she shifted positions back and forth. “When you practice this exercise you are activating both hemispheres of your brain through the corpus callosum. Bilateral coordination is a such an important exercise for the brain,” her post caption reads. So, we asked experts at Alzheimer’s Society whether the method stands up.View this post on InstagramA post shared by Dr. Suzi Schulman (@dr.suzischulman)Don’t rely on the method alone Speaking to HuffPost UK, Dr Tim Beanland, Head of Knowledge and Learning at Alzheimer’s Society, concedes: “There is some evidence that practising motor skills can help to maintain useful cognitive abilities like attention and spatial awareness into old age.”However, he continues, “This is not the same thing as preventing dementia.” While Dr Beanland says that exercise in general is highly beneficial for our brain health, especially from midlife on, he doesn’t think there’s a cure-all move that’ll banish your risk of developing dementia. “While we are supportive of people doing activities that work both the mind andbody, such as dancing or tai chi, we need to be careful not to create false expectations that there is any one ‘simple hack’ to prevent dementia,” he tells us.“In reality, things are much more complex than this.” The NHS recommends getting 150 minutes of moderate activity or 75 minutes of higher-intensity exercise a week. They say it’s important to “spread exercise evenly over four to five days a week, or every day” for best results.Some studies have linked sticking to those guidelines to a lower risk of dementia. What should I do, then?Medical journal The Lancet has listed 14 “potentially modifiable” risk factors for dementia, which you may be able to change through lifestyle choices.Dr Beanland tells us that when it comes to dementia prevention, common sense, rather than unusual “hacks”, usually prevails. “Overall, the evidence suggests that we can reduce our risk of dementia bymaking a wide range of healthy changes, particularly from mid-life onwards,” he shares. “Amongst others, these include staying physically, mentally and socially active,keeping to a healthy weight, not smoking, and not drinking too much alcohol.”Related...This May Be The Most Important Age To Increase Exercise For Dementia Prevention5 Dementia Risk Factors A Surgeon Says Too Many Of Us IgnoreI'm A Neurologist – Here Are 5 Unexpected Dementia Signs You Should Know About

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