Being happy to fight Alzheimer's

---

Extract from the article: Certain behaviours can help prevent cognitive decline and ultimately Alzheimer's disease. These include a healthy diet, regular physical activity, brain-stimulating activities such as crosswords

---

Certain behaviours can help prevent cognitive decline and ultimately Alzheimer's disease. These include a healthy diet, regular physical activity, brain-stimulating activities such as crosswords and scrabble, not smoking and limiting alcohol. Having a positive attitude also helps to combat cognitive decline.

But enthusiastic and cheerful people, what psychologists call "positive affect", are also less likely to experience memory decline as they age. Memory declines with age. However, people with higher levels of positive affect have less pronounced memory decline over 10 years. This finding adds to a growing body of research on the role of positive affect in healthy aging.

Elom AKAKPO