Internet Use and Dementia

The result of a study in the US about Internet use and its relation to dementia in older persons, published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, is sold as a surprise. Not so for Red Baron, for he had expected that people actively using their brain while getting older would have a greater chance not to become ament.

Note the word dementia means the decrease of memory and mind quite naturally as you age, while amentia is the complete loss of mental capacity.

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While studies like the one above are prone to suffer from poor statistics, the results indeed are stunning not only regarding their accuracy of two digital places: Participants who were active internet users had a mere 1.54 percent risk of developing dementia. In contrast, non-users faced a staggering 10.45 percent risk.

Still, there remain many open questions.

Was the cohort biased? Usually, people actively interested in everything under the sun remain so when they get old. Don't these persons develop dementia relatively late in life anyway? They may also have adopted the Internet early and have followed its development.

What does it mean: To be on the Internet? Did the participants in the study just consume the content passively, like television, or did they follow social networks, read newspapers and reports, or even actively participate by writing contributions of their own?

Did the study filter out those people whose brain activity was already stimulated by solving crossword puzzles or reading demanding literature?

Was there a difference between physically active people and couch potatoes?

The authors conclude: Regular internet users experienced approximately half the risk of dementia than non-regular users. Being a regular internet user for longer periods in late adulthood was associated with delayed cognitive impairment, although further evidence is needed on potential adverse effects of excessive usage. Really? An overdosing not only in children but in adults too?

Not only is morale going down the drain: O tempora, o scientia!

As Lagniappe here another "far-reaching" study:

It has been long known that caffeine is linked to physical benefits. Now, read this:

According to a 2023 study of 100 people in the New England Journal of Medicine, the probands walked more on days they drank coffee than on days they didn't. Participants took an average of 1,000 more steps on days when they drank caffeinated coffee than when they didn't.

I shake my head.
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