Maybe playing Bridge is the way to go !!
by Jim Fagan
10th Feb 2016 5:00 AM
DOES playing contract bridge keep you smarter longer?
Kim Ellaway, secretary of the Queensland Bridge Association, believes 200 per cent that it does and she is backed up by Professor John Kwok of Neuroscience Research Australia
Last month we reported how the Sunshine Coast Contract Bridge Club at Buderim in a drive for new members claimed playing the card game could ward off dementia.
We put it to the test by asking Professor Kwok (50) who for the last 20 years has been studying the late onset of diseases in our elderly, particular Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.
His main area of focus at the Neuroscience Research Centre in Sydney has been how lifestyle factors actually work to protect the elderly and reduce the risk of getting these diseases.
In collaboration with Professor Parminder Sachdev of the University of New South Wales he has just completed a Sydney Memory Ageing Study involving a large group of 1000 people aged 70 to 90 years.
"We worked them pretty hard," Professor Kwok said. "They sat through a lot of cognitive tests with questions on what sort of mental activities they do each week like reading magazines, going to the cinema, playing games like bridge and chess and learning a second language.
"Our findings have not yet been published but we know certain disease genes when switched on increase the risk of getting Alzheimer's and what lifestyle factors are capable of switching it off.
"Activity like bridge gives the ageing brain a gymnasium to get fit in. Think of a brain as another muscle to be exercised. If you don't use it, it will regress and not work as effectively as it should."
The research by Professor Kwok and his colleagues at the Neuroscience Research Centre has been supported by contract bridge players throughout Australia since 2004 with a competition each year in May called the Bridge for Brain Research Challenge.
Clubs compete against each other and fundraise. Association secretary Kim Ellaway says it is strongly supported by her members who are "ecstatic by the amount of money raised, usually about $40,000.
"We have 54 clubs in Queensland, nine on the Sunshine Coast. Our total membership of 8000 has doubled in the last 10 years because people are starting to realise the benefits of playing bridge.
"I am 200 per cent convinced of this.
"You very rarely hear of bridge players having Alzheimer's or dementia."
I DISAGREE!!!!!!!!!
My husband has always been a very skilled card player but it did not stop him getting Alzheimer's. Perhaps playing bridge has slowed his decline and his geriatrician is certainly of that opinion. Interestingly enough, it has been his long term memory that has failed him, not being able to recall much of the first twenty two years of his life.
His short term memory is only now showing signs of decline. I think it is a bit like tunnel vision where his world is contained in a narrow space with little reference to other things. Another interesting fact is that my husband comes from a family of bookmakers and he never messes up with anything mathematical and that correlates with the game of bridge.
Several members of his club have retired from playing bridge because they have Alzheimer's or another form of dementia. And believe me, there are quite a few incidents of people getting lost, forgetting that they were supposed to be playing, and just generally doing odd things, like getting confused by daylight saving etc. Considering the average age of the players is about mid to late seventies, there would be a reasonable number of members who could well be able tick the boxes for AD.
The article assumes that people are joining bridge clubs because they realise the benefits of playing but they don't really know that is the real reason. The population is aging and there are lots of people who don't really want to play bingo or lawn bowls. It is also a bit of an 'elitist' pastime so there would be people who see it as a status symbol.
The structure of points and 'masters' awards that form the basis for competition feed into this snobby aspect and it seems that people with obsessive personalities tend to be better players. And the article did say that it could ward off dementia ' but that still leaves the question open, doesn't it?
My husband has run the whole gamut of neuropsychological testing and has several areas of cognitive deficits and was indeed given the diagnosis of non-amnesiac Alzheimer's which I guess fits in with his ability to play bridge.
All I know is that I am not exactly hankering to learn to play bridge. I would rather be outside working in my garden or volunteering with my environmental group. But if bridge keeps him happy and busy that's all good but it freaks me out when I wonder what he is going to do when he can no longer play.
