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Dr. Kim Mulvihill ReportingResearch shows keeping your brain active seems to build up a big reserve of brain cells and connections. That beefed up reserve may do more than just ward off alzheimer's disease. New findings show it could also delay the diagnosis.
Woody Hoffman was diagnosed with alzheimer's disease at 59.
Woody Hoffman/ Diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease: "You aren't the person you were 10, 15 years ago. You can't remember like you were able to do."
All his life, Woody lived an active healthy lifestyle. With an MBA from Cal, Woody was a chief finance officer for the city of Berkeley.
Cathy Dodd/ Woody's Wife: "It probably actually did slow down the disease in him. That's what some doctors have speculated about that."
An active brain is believed to protect against alzheimer's. But a new study suggests while a higher education may ward off disease, it may also result in a faster progression once the disease develops.
Researchers tracked 312 seniors diagnosed with alzheimer's, for up to 13 years. They found the higher the education, the faster the fall.
Dr. Michael Weiner of UCSF heads up the new alzheimer's center at San Francisco's VA medical center. He says a higher education may mask the earliest signs of alzheimer's disease.
Michael Weiner, M.D./ UCSF & San Francisco Va Medical Center: "People with high education, they actually have the disease for longer time and they don't know it. When it finally does come out, they have this downhill course because they are in a later stage of the disease."
When the disease is progressing at its fastest. The theory is known as cognitive brain reserve. Your brain is packed with billions of neurons and synapses. People with higher educations appear to have even more, and they're more efficient.
Michael Weiner, M.D.: "A high brain reserve means you don't have any symptoms until the disease is far advanced."
And that presents a problem for the highly educated. It may be too late for them to benefit from promising new treatments that could slow the disease.
It's all the more reason to find a way to spot this disease earlier. And spotting alzheimer's earlier is the focus of a lot of current research. But staying active, both physically and mentally, is still the best prescription for living longer with a healthy brain.
