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CTOnews.com, May 4 (Xinhua) Alzheimer's disease is a disease that seriously affects the quality of life and can lead to memory and intelligence loss. Currently, more than 6 million people over the age of 65 in the United States suffer from Alzheimer's disease, the most common type of Alzheimer's disease. This number is expected to grow to 12 million by 2050. So, is there any way to prevent or delay the occurrence of Alzheimer's disease?

Recently, a new study offers a surprising answer: regular Internet access (Regular use of the internet). The study, published Wednesday in the American Journal of Geriatrics, analyzed data from 18000 people aged 50 to 64.9 and found that people who used the Internet regularly had a half lower risk of developing Alzheimer's disease than those who did not. The elderly, who participated in a health and retirement study conducted by the University of Michigan, the National Institute on Aging and the Social Security Administration, were free of Alzheimer's at the start of the study and were followed for about eight years.

This study is not the first to find a link between surfing the Internet and cognitive function. Some earlier studies have also shown that older people who use the Internet have better cognitive performance, language reasoning and memory than those who do not. However, experts say more research is needed to fully assess the impact of Internet access on the risk of Alzheimer's disease, including the impact of different types of online behavior on cognitive function in the elderly.

Claire Sexton, senior director of the Science Program and Outreach Department of the Alzheimer's Association, said: "this is an important study, however, this type of research does not determine causality." She points out that intervention research is needed to show more clearly whether there is a correlation. "the relationship may be two-way. In other words, frequent access to the Internet may be associated with increased cognitive stimulation and a reduced risk of Alzheimer's disease. Or, individuals with lower risk may be more likely to surf the Internet regularly." Sexton referred to a two-year clinical trial being conducted by the association, the US pointer study, which measures the effectiveness of lifestyle interventions aimed at risk factors.

It is worth noting that Alzheimer's disease affects people of different races and skin colors to varying degrees. Black Americans are twice as likely to develop Alzheimer's disease or other types of Alzheimer's as white seniors. Hispanic seniors are 1.5 times more likely to develop the disease than white seniors. However, the study found that the relationship between access to the Internet and the risk of Alzheimer's disease was not affected by race or education, and the results remained consistent after adjusting for socio-economic factors.

In addition, the study analyzed the relationship between the amount of time spent online each day and the risk of Alzheimer's disease. Although the results showed that people who spent less than two hours a day online had the lowest risk, while those who spent six to eight hours a day had the highest risk, these estimates were not statistically significant, the authors wrote. this may be due to the small sample size of these groups. Therefore, further research is needed to assess whether excessive Internet access is potentially harmful to the elderly. "excessive Internet access may reduce the chances of face-to-face social interaction and separation from the real world, which in turn may adversely affect cognitive health," the authors write.

In short, this study provides a simple and effective way for the elderly to protect their brains: surfing the Internet regularly. Of course, surfing the Internet is not the only way. CTOnews.com has learned that there are other lifestyle factors that can also help prevent or delay the occurrence of Alzheimer's disease, such as a healthy diet, moderate exercise and social activities. As long as we pay attention to maintaining physical and mental health, it is possible to stay away from the terrible disease of Alzheimer's.

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