Newspaper headline today about doing crosswords preventing dementia

[tre]

I do not know what paper this was in- it just caught my eye whilst I was doing some Christmas shopping whilst my husband is at the Day Hospital. I know I could not help myself saying "what complete rubbish" out loud. My mum who died of Vascular Dementia in February used to do the cross word every day before she got ill. Why do they print this tosh, and as a front page headline too? Are they in the pay of those who manufacture these brain training games?
In the support group we go to for my husband ( degree and PhD in science) who has a type of Alzheimers the sufferers include a former maths professor who has written advanced textbooks, a successful childrens author etc etc and of course we have to remember Terry Pratchett. This disease affects people who use their brains.
Tre

 

[Canadian Joanne]

I agree, it can be very frustrating reading these types of articles. What I find is usually the case, is that the newspaper has got hold of a scientific article and dumbed it down to an incredible extent, often to the point of no longer properly putting across the original information.

Many of these articles refer to putting off the development of dementia or reducing the risk. Reducing the risk does not mean eliminating the risk or preventing dementia. But irresponsible or shoddy journalists often imply this.

My mother also did crosswords every day and read extensively. She was a bookkeeper, travelled a great deal and was socially active. Sometimes dementia just happens.

 

[Dill]

Completely agree. Front page news in a popular tabloid. Disgusting. My Dad was an auditor all his life, financial puzzles were his daily bread and butter.
After he died (of Az) we found loads of those puzzle magazines, none completed. It makes me mad that whilst we are seeing dementia awareness slots on tv the media also publish sensationalist headlines in the papers.
Glad someone else feels the same.I saw the paper in the supermarket and debated buying it to check what research papers, references etc they had consulted, decided against it.
I shall watch out for it at work, we use old newspapers.
Dill

 

[Canadian Joanne]

I saw the paper in the supermarket and debated buying it to check what research papers, references etc they had consulted, decided against it.

I'm glad you decided against it. All they are trying to do is sell newspapers, which is their business, not necessarily proper reportage. If people stopped buying tabloids, they would go out of business.

But unfortunately, as H.L. Mencken said "Nobody ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the (American) public". He said American but I think it applies to any public.

 

[Jancis]

Wish I'd seen this article, can't find it on the net.

There are plenty of articles like this one, however.

http://www.physorg.com/news/2010-11-alzheimer-disease-crossword-puzzles.html

 

[Canadian Joanne]

Wish I'd seen this article, can't find it on the net.

There are plenty of articles like this one, however.

http://www.physorg.com/news/2010-11-alzheimer-disease-crossword-puzzles.html

It was the Daily Mail, of course.

The above article is a balanced presentation, using words like 'delay' etc.

 

[Jancis]

Thanks Joanne,
I will take a look at this later.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/a...day-really-dementia-away-say-researchers.html

 

[tre]

It was not the Daily Mail I saw it in but the Daily Mirror who had it as a headline. I notice the source is published in BMC which I sort of assumed was British Medical something. However on further research it is Bio Med Central who are a for profit publisher in Missouri. The original data was German and seems to suggest if mild to moderate sufferers were given a couple of hours a day intensive encouragement to do various tasks they declined less than those who did not. This is hardly a surprise. I found that my husband was not deteriorating at a fast rate but when he had a stay in hospital following a fall when he broke his hip even though I was with him 12 hours a day he was disorientated on return home and could not locate the toilet or feed himself in the way he had prior to the admission. However once he got back home and I got him back into his old routines he was again able to do stuff. I think it is just the same as with anything else. If you persist with the physio excercises you get the movement back, if you want to train an animal or potty train a child you have to spend time and effort and repeat the task. This is not news as far as I can see.
It may have been in The Mail as well but it was not front page.
Tre
Tre

 

[Jancis]

Finally found the Daily Mirror article:
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/health...ng-off-dementia-study-claims-115875-23600834/

Newspapers - oh how they love to confuse the public - a year ago the Mirror published this story:
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/health-news/2010/09/02/this-puzzle-is-driving-me-barmy-115875-22530648/

I think crosswords are fine for those who enjoy them (and from personal experience with my mum, I also think cross-stitch is equally good to engage in). But I think it's impossible to try and research whether such activities stave off mental illness. Quite ridiculous - how do you find enough human beings with the same background, same physical health conditions, nutritional history, same education, abilities, hobbies etc to compare evidence?

 

[Tender Face]

I saw this headline, too, on the newsstands, in the Daily Express. It actually made me so sad. Mum was a great ‘crossword puzzler’ .... it was the fact she couldn’t do them any more – never mind fail to hold a pen properly - that shouted yet more concerns about her .....

It concerns me that getting some balance between ‘stimulating the brain’ – with such as puzzles – is not actually reinforcing someone’s lack of confidence and self-esteem and actually highlights their problems to them instead of helping them?

Karen, x

 

[Izzy]

I could only read the first few line of the article. Bill was a very intelligent Headteacher who had a passion for cryptic crosswords. He did at least one every day and always completed them successfully. Now he can't do the simplest crossword. Enough said.

 

[creativesarah]

I do have a nintendo which I play on most days (when I remember!) and I enjoy that although the brain training one where you have to read outloud always knocks my score down as since I have been ill I have trouble with reading aloud (and singing but we wont even go there)
I like doing crosswords so I do do them to keep me on my toes as much as I can

this last week or so has been very difficult

my memory has been very shot and I keep doing random things

ie looking in the cutlery drawer for the garage keys

going to stir Lucys tea with the washing up brush

my sight seems a bit blurry

cooking lunch but no vegatables on sunday

I got quite frightened so I went to see my lovely GP

taking a long list of what had been going wrong

including losing my temper

she gave me a looking over and discovered an ear infection

I still feel washed out but some of my executive functions are slowly returning

Still havnt got the hang of my new bedroom heater (I'm really geeky so in the past I would have no problem) but I know I left it on tonight and my room will be toasty when I go up in a few mins

I guess what I was trying to say is that I do try to stretch my brain and I'm sure Bill did too and lots of others who natuurally kept their brain active as part of their everyday life but I am glad that I've got the opportunity to do what I can while I can.

 

[Izzy]

..... and you do and achieve so much Sarah. It's also so helpful to hear things from a sufferer's point of view. x

 

[eskimojo]

the dr at my last appointment told me to do cross words but i said now i have dementia does that mean i can do them now.....took his lead and tried the easy one in our local paper.....but no still cant do them x

 

[CraigC]

It was the irresponsible Daily Express - caught my eye and my anger on the tube too:

http://forum.alzheimers.org.uk/show...sk-of-dementia&p=543903&viewfull=1#post543903

And the way the Daily Express interprets the report. Puzzles Beat Alzheimer's
Simple Brain testers HELP stop diseaser



Totally irresponsible journalism IMHO. This does so much harm to those fighting the corner for decent funding for research. I'm not even going to entertain this red top newspaper with a link from this site.

x

BTW, mum and dad both did crosswords and played scrabble together for as long as I can remembers. Dad is now in his 13th year with Alzheimer's. Do we really have to continue clutching at straws like this or can we get really serious about finding the cause and a cure?

Kind Regards
Craig

 

[nitram]

You can view the article on-line:-

http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/297592/Puzzles-beat-Alzheimer-s