[Gary]

Warley MRC have been having a bit of a chit chat about this. With 50% of the population expected to contract Alzheimers at some point in their lives Warley MRC believe that railway modelling helps to postspone the onset of this. Cartainly the club members who have discussed this are struggling to think of any members who have contracted this in the 40 years that the club has been going.

We would all agree that railway modelling does keep the brain very active!

The suggestion is that railway modelling should be recommended by the NHS as a hobby to take up on retirement.

Would anybody like to share their thoughts and views on this and provide further evidence to support the thinking of Warley MRC?

Happy modelling
Gary

 

[Robert Stokes]

It could do so but then I think that any activity which keeps the brain working would do the same. My other hobby is chess and at the local club most of the players are retired but all have got their wits about them.

 

[34C]

What evidence there is suggests that any mental acitivity is beneficial: take an active interest in something, rather than vegetate. Sadly, a recurrent pattern in Alzheimer's and other memory deterioration syndromes is behavioural change to avoid novelty, to stick to 'the known'; and this can begin years or even decades before the problem is diagnosed, and is often so subtle that the affected person's family and friends simply accept that 'X isn't interested anymore'.

 

[Bilbo]

I would have thought 50% was rather a high figure for that disease anyway. I am in my 60's and 50% of my acquaintances do not have any of the signs of alzheimers.

 

[darobi]

It was in the news last week I believe, 1-10 from 55-65 ish and and 1-4 over 85. I think it was on the BBC website.

 

[7113]

I read somewhere recently that doing Cryptic crosswords and sudoku etc is stimulate the brain thus reducing the onset. In this sort of case I suppose layout planning would have the same effect.

Regards

 

[34C]

QUOTE (darobi @ 3 Dec 2007, 14:10) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>It was in the news last week I believe, 1-10 from 55-65 ish and and 1-4 over 85. I think it was on the BBC website.
Some specialists believe that as life span extends mental declines of all sorts will become more common, simply because they are characteristic of advancing age. We know that as we age muscle mass and tone is lost, skin elasticity degrades, joints wear and become inflamed, tissues develop tumours: likewise it appears our brain inevitably degrades significantly from some point. It's a bit like an endurance race, which bits claps out first, and carries any one of us off.

A significant difficulty at present is that there is no reliable diagnostic test for the various forms of mental decline: autopsy is the only reliable diagnostic tool. That makes for very 'hit and miss' conditions when trying to evaluate effective therapies. Research will doubtless lead to progress in diagnosis and treatment, analogous to the advances against many physical conditions: but unless there is a stupendous 'breakthrough' advance it's going to be a fifty year haul to effective diagnosis, and proven effective therapy.

 

[neil_s_wood]

I have read up a fair bit of this as Alzheimers has afflicted many of my relatives and father. There are all sorts of theory's about doing puzzles to keep the mind active and also that certain foods e.g. cranberry and apple juice are beneficial, however in practice this does not seem to be borne out. I am not convinced that these will prevent Alzheimers however as I do many of these things anyway here's hoping they will help.

 

[ozwarrior]

It's always sad to see people so afflicted and I'm sure anything that exercises and challenges the brain would help. In railway modelling I suppose it depends on how deeply one gets into it. Let's hope as time goes on for us more will be revealed.

 

[alastairq]

QUOTE (Bilbo @ 3 Dec 2007, 14:55) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>I would have thought 50% was rather a high figure for that disease anyway. I am in my 60's and 50% of my acquaintances do not have any of the signs of alzheimers.

what about the other 50% ?

 

[alastairq]

has anybody correlated this unfortunate, ''apparent' increase in the disease, with the huge increase in tele-visual entertainment, communication, education, etc?

One of the main reasons for a 'decline' in model railway sales...and plastic kits, apparently, is the prevalence of electronic games, and computers?

With Hornby's acquisition of Airfix [kits], this was stated objective of the new owners, to compete with Playstations, PC's and Gameboys, for the attentions of the young generation.

[and what about that other electronic gaming system....? Is it from Newcastle?...[the Wye-eye?]

I hilite this issue because the televisual side of our lives does involve us recieving more input, with little effort, than producing output?

Even contributing to this forum results in much lost modelling time?