TL;DR
- The study spans 17 years, involving 20,000 elderly participants.
- Internet users have only a 1.54% susceptibility to dementia.
- Excessive uses of the internet (>2 hours daily) may increase dementia risk.
- The complex relationship between uses of the internet and dementia is still under scrutiny.
Investigators of scientific acumen embarked on a quest to unravel the potential nexus between internet utilization and the propensity for cognitive impairment, culminating in a rather intriguing revelation.
Astonishingly, it was discerned that individuals of advanced age stand to derive cognitive benefits from a regimen of moderate and consistent uses of the internet , despite the occasionally perplexing nature of their Facebook posts.
This revelatory exploration, gracing the pages of the August edition of the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, was meticulously undertaken by erudite scholars hailing from NYU’s School of Global Public Health.
Their intellectual odyssey was instigated by the paucity of scholarly endeavors scrutinizing the ‘longitudinal cognitive ramifications stemming from internet engagement in the elderly cohort.’ Remarkably, extant literature predominantly fixates on the adverse consequences uses of the internet , overlooking the prospect of potential benefits.
The researchers undertook the meticulous task of monitoring the healthcare outcomes of mature adults, free from the shackles of dementia, within the age bracket spanning from 50 to 65. This painstaking endeavor spanned a period of up to 17 years and was facilitated through the conduit of the University of Michigan’s Health and Retirement Study—a comprehensive longitudinal survey boasting a rich repository of information about a cohort comprising 20,000 elderly denizens of the United States.
At biennial intervals, commencing from 2002 and extending through 2018, the custodians of the Michigan study posed an imperative query to the participants: ‘Do you engage in regular internet usage, and if so, to what extent?’
The responses exhibited variegation, with a staggering 65 percent affirming their status as regular users, while 21 percent bore witness to significant alterations in their cyber comportment over the course of their participatory tenure. Regrettably, a somber note resonates in the annals of this inquiry, as a subset of participants either succumbed to mortality’s embrace or succumbed to the clutches of dementia.
Among the segment of participants characterized by their active internet engagement, the erudite authors of this novel inquiry discerned a mere 1.54 percent susceptibility to the onset of dementia. In stark contradistinction, those who eschewed internet utilization appeared to confront an astronomical 10.45 percent proclivity toward cognitive decline.
Delving deeper, the AGS study ventured to quantify the temporal trajectory leading to the advent of dementia, unraveling a staggering revelation—regular internet aficionados were a mere half as susceptible to the affliction compared to their non-utilizing counterparts.
However, a pivotal caveat warrants consideration—an intricate interplay exists between excessive uses of the internet and the looming specter of dementia. The peril associated with an overdose of digital indulgence seemed to surge amongst those who traversed the digital expanse for durations exceeding two hours daily.
In the words of Gawon Cho, erstwhile affiliated with NYU, ‘Within the purview of the elderly demographic, individuals who partake in habitual internet perusal manifest a diminished susceptibility to the scourge of dementia, in juxtaposition to their non-engaging counterparts.
Moreover, protracted periods of assiduous internet perusal in the twilight years of life hold the potential to mitigate the looming threat of dementia incidence.’ However, an admonitory undertone persists, as excessive daily uses of the internet immersion may deleteriously influence the dementia risk among the aged populace.
As with an array of analogous investigations, the caveat of confounding variables looms large. The intricate interplay between correlation and causation may conceal nuances that warrant further elucidation.
In the words of Claire Sexton, a luminary from the Alzheimer’s Association, who remained a disinterested observer in this scholarly expedition, ‘The association between regular uses of the internet utilization and heightened cognitive stimulation, potentially culminating in a diminished risk of dementia, remains a complex terrain, necessitating meticulous exploration.
Alternatively, it is plausible that individuals endowed with a diminished predisposition to dementia are inherently inclined toward regular uses of the internet.’
Source(S): futurism
