What new skill(s) can I learn at an older age to help stave off dementia?

[MoonDanceDiner]

My dear mum has advanced Alzheimer's disease. I have helped care for her for the last 5 years and watching this decline in my once vibrant and brightly spirited mum has left me terrified of this awful illness.

I know a lot of it is luck but time and time again I am reading the importance of learning new skills all the way through life to help stave off cognitive decline.

I am 52 and was diagnosed with inattentive adhd this year so I do have a short attention span. Annoyingly I bore of things very easily but I am determined to try new things.

What can I try that is easy to learn but somehow challenging enough to keep my brain active and building up some cognitive reserve for the future?

I am crap with numbers and hate maths but love arts and crafts, nature, history and geography. I love music with a passion and would have loved to have been able to play a musical instrument but I feel that ship has sailed and you really need to be naturally musically gifted like my FIL, he has never once had a lesson yet can play the piano and any keyboard with ease. I have always wanted to play the Ukulele.

I would have also liked to have been able to have spoken a different language but maybe that is a little bit challenging?

Crochet and embroidery is something I also love but again not sure if that is something I can simply pick up at in my 50's?

Oh, I also need to be able to do these things on the cheap as money is tight.

I do that too, read it's very good for cognitive function. I brush my teeth with my left hand and have started to write with my left hand as well.

Like you I have adhd and hate maths but I made myself learn how to do sudoku. It's not really maths at all. But it does encourage 2,3,4 or more step thinking which is so hard for my adhd brain. I've got better at it now.

I love line dancing, used to do it in my 20's. I'll have a look and see if there's any in my area.

Good for you, op.

Activities which use your brain in different ways are particularly good. So something like singing or learning an instrument is brilliant because it engages your brain in different ways- auditory, visual, motor skills, emotions, memory- and builds connections between brain areas. Add in a social aspect eg joining a choir and that's a complete brain workout. As pp have said, it's not really about the results- it doesn't matter if you're not the next Mitsuko Uchida- it's about the process of learning. Learning a language similarly because language is such a complex function and engages your brain in so many ways and again can have a social aspect.

Physical fitness also. If it's good for your heart, it's good for your brain. A mixture of strength, cardio, flexibility and balance.

I try to keep my muscles strong as mum also has osteoporosis and I'm trying everything to keep my bones strong. I'd better add some extra squats to my routine.

I definitely need to start getting out more, I've been so depressed as I look after mum 5 days a week and it's been getting to me to the point that I just want to crawl in bed when I get home.

I definitely need to try this. My friend did the same during the lockdowns.

Hello there, from your first post I'd say there are several ideas that you could follow up and would enjoy developing.
Perhaps learning to read music? It might be more interesting if at the same you learn to play an instrument, the descant recorder would be good in that situation.

If you're doing puzzles and crosswords, don't ignore sudoku. Although it uses numbers, there is no maths involved, it is just logic. So do give it a try, the New York Times has free sudoku games every day.

Reading and memorising poetry is said to be helpful for keeping the brain active, so maybe treat yourself to a "poem a day" book? For knitting and crochet you could look in charity shops for yarn, hooks etc to keep the cost down. Start with simple items such as a knitted bobble hat. Duo lingo has free language lessons which you can do in short bursts if you are struggling to concentrate.

Do you listen to Mozart? Read up about the Mozart Effect!

I've just had a quick look on Amazon, and you can get a descant recorder for about £10, maybe you could ask for one for Christmas from a kind relative?

Seconding the keeping on top of eye and hearing appointments. It does have a marked effect on Alzheimer's and dementia both in actual cognitive function and causing people to withdraw more socially which leads to worse outcomes

Racket sports are meant to be particularly good as the neural networks used help protect agaist cognative decline plus you have the cardio and social benefits.

My DM has advanced Alzheimer’s and lives in a nursing home, she is 73.

She did sudoku every day, was social, travelled, had hobbies, managed all her own investments, read, swam and went for long walks daily, did yoga, joined a choir. I first noticed the signs when she was mid 60’s but looking back it started at least 7 years earlier than that. Her personality changed, she started to get lost.

Crosswords, reading, knitting, dancing and learning languages are all good for your brain! You are also 100% not too old to learn an instrument. You are not old for starters. It must be hard looking after your DM and that won’t help your attention span. Mine is shit too and I currently do Duolingo, listening to audio books and walking to keep me active and concentrating on something!

Bella coco on YouTube is great for beginners crochet tutorials

My mum never smoked, never drank alcohol and exercised every day. She was asleep bright as a button and would read every day, she socialised all the time, did charity work etc.

I'll try everything possible not to succumb to it but I'm sure it's all down to bad luck. Mum's best friend of almost 70 years and the same age as mum has no signs of any cognitive decline.

@ConflictofInterest suggests "Actually I think you want to switch your perspective round, you want to choose things that are not easy for you to learn, things that are a challenge for you, and require your brain to grow some new neurons and work hard to pick it up..."

I like this approach. I particularly like the suggestions that you "crochet something new with the intention of unravelling it when you've finished."

I did this! Nice wool is so expensive, I once crocheted a bedspread with plain blue and white stripes, unravelled it, and redid it in basket-weave.

Good luck, OP - great thread.

I do keep reading that. I'm having a sight test tomorrow, I'll see if I can book in a hearing test too.

Join a choir. You love music. There are non audition choirs around and they often do a mixture of musical styles if pure classical isn't your thing.

I'm feeling the same, there is absolutely no way I will expect my children to look after me if I develop this awful disease.

And rather than just doing squats at home find a strength building class with great music to motivate you. You need to build up your core more than anything as it's what keeps your organs in place!

There's a good Michael Moseley podcast episode on this. On the back of it I have taught myself to juggle. I can reliably juggle three balls now for 4/5 rounds. I used a YouTube tutorial to help.

Also I'm learning to touch type.

Michael Moseley also suggested swimming as helpful. Also in one of his podcasts.
RIP dear MM 😔

I game on console, I play regular shooters but also a game where you need to improve your stats and follow very specific protocols to achieve success whilst interacting with others.

Volunteering!! There are lots of people doing it who are older than me - I’m 50 - I’m the youngest by miles! I also likely have some sort of ADHD and used to listen to audiobooks but have recently bought myself a new kindle paperwhite as I realised I just don’t read much anymore! I love it!!! I don’t read anything high brow but am reading loads and think it’s really good for me!

My DM has never known she has this disease, she thinks she is really healthy and doesn’t know she is being cared for or needs any care.
She hasn’t known who I am for about 18 months.

My mum is concerned about this and she focuses on crosswords and quizzes, goes
to special memory dance class where the emphasises is on learning the routines not the dancing ability - for mental stimulation. Spend time with younger people who discuss technology and help you keep up - this is helpful for life anyway, but I have noticed that the difference between my mum being willing to do this and MIL not definitely disadvantages my MIL even though she won’t admit it. Best wishes.

Cycling as a mode of transport. This has been covered a lot recently in the cycling world as there has been a recent medical study suggesting a significant reduction in dementia. Here is te study the media refers to jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2835115