45. The Times, Learning language beats drugs against Alzheimer

Learning language beats drugs against Alzheimer’s

Mark Henderson Science Editor, Washington

Last updated at 2:00PM, February 18 2011

Learning a foreign language and speaking it regularly offers greater protection against Alzheimer’s disease than any drug yet available for the condition, new research has suggested.

Bilingual people tend to be diagnosed with the most common form of dementia more than four years later than those who are fluent in only a single language, scientists in Canada have found.

The results indicate that the mental skills involved in juggling two languages may stimulate the brain so it becomes more resilient to the

Learning language beats drugs against Alzheimer's | The Times

Learning a foreign language and speaking it regularly offers greater protection against Alzheimer's disease than any drug yet available for the condition, new research has suggested. Bilingual ...

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/health/news/article2918536.ece