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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Bilingualism delays onset of dementia <!-- END HEADLINE -->
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<P><SPAN>By David Ljunggren </SPAN>Fri Jan 12, 4:13 PM ET </P>
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<P>OTTAWA (Reuters) - People who are fully bilingual and speak both languages
every day for most of their lives can delay the onset of dementia by up to four
years compared with those who only know one language, Canadian scientists said
on Friday. </P>
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<P>Researchers said the extra effort involved in using more than one language
appeared to boost blood supply to the brain and ensure nerve connections
remained healthy -- two factors thought to help fight off dementia.</P>
<P>"We are pretty dazzled by the results," Professor Ellen Bialystok of
Toronto's York University said in a statement.</P>
<P>"In the process of using ... two languages, you are engaging parts of your
brain, parts of your mind that are active and need that kind of constant
exercise and activity, and with that experience (it) stays more robust," she
later told CTV television.</P>
<P>The leading cause of dementia among the elderly is <SPAN class=yqlink>
<FORM class=yqin action=http://yq.search.yahoo.com/search method=post><INPUT
type=hidden value=""Alzheimer's disease"" name=p> <INPUT type=hidden
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value="<p style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-weight:bold;font-size:13px;padding:0;margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:.5em;">Alzheimer's disease</p>"
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value="The leading cause of dementia among the elderly is
Alzheimer's disease, which gradually destroys a person's
memory. There is no known cure."
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onclick="activateYQinl(this);return false;"
href="http://search.news.yahoo.com/search/news/?p=Alzheimer%27s+disease"><STRONG><FONT
color=#003399>Alzheimer's disease</FONT></STRONG></A></SPAN>, which gradually
destroys a person's memory. There is no known cure.</P>
<P>Bialystok's team focused on 184 elderly patients with signs of dementia who
attended a Toronto memory clinic between 2002 and 2005. Of the group, 91 spoke
only one language while 93 were bilingual.</P>
<P>"The researchers determined that the mean age of onset of dementia symptoms
in the monolingual group was 71.4 years, while the bilingual group was 75.5
years," the statement said.</P>
<P>"This difference remained even after considering the possible effect of
cultural differences, immigration, formal education, employment and even gender
as (influences) in the results," it added.</P>
<P>Bialystok stressed that bilingualism helped delay the start of dementia
rather than preventing it altogether.</P>
<P>Psychologist Fergus Craik, another member of the team, said the data showed
that being fully bilingual had "a huge protective effect" against the onset of
dementia but he added that the study was still a preliminary finding. The team
plans more research into the beneficial side-effects of bilingualism.</P>
<P>The Alzheimer Society of Canada described the report as exciting and said it
confirmed recent studies that showed that keeping the brain active was a good
way to delay the impact of dementia.</P>
<P>"Anything that staves off the time when the risk factor (for dementia)
overcomes the defenses is wonderful news," scientific director Jack Diamond told
Reuters.</P>
<P>The society estimates that in 2000 -- the latest year for which data is
available -- Canada spent C$5.5 billion ($4.7 billion) taking care of people
with Alzheimer's disease. </P></DIV></DIV></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>