Britain is now no country for old men who do 'brain gym'

Britain's old men, you were told in August 2010 :

'Brain Exercises' May Delay Memory Decline In Dementia

* People who engage in activities that exercise the brain, such as reading, writing, and playing card games, may delay the rapid memory decline which occurs if they later develop dementia.

And in December 2009 :

Brain Training Can Help Improve Specific Abilities in Older People

* Many brain training products claim to be able to keep us mentally fit and some products claim that brain training can prevent dementia in old age, however, there is no scientific proof that games or ...

And in August 2008 :

Even Without Dementia, Mental Skills Decline Years Before Death

* A new study shows that older people's mental skills start declining years before death, even if they don't have ...

And now you are told in September 2010 :

Brain Exercises May Slow Cognitive Decline Initially, but Speed Up Dementia Later

* new research shows that mentally stimulating activities such as crossword puzzles, reading and listening to the radio may, at first, slow the decline of thinking skills but speed up dementia later in old age.

* the benefit of delaying the initial signs of cognitive decline may come at the cost of more rapid dementia progression later on.

* mental activities compress the time period that a person spends with dementia, delaying its start and then speeding up its progress and so this reduces the overall amount of time that a person may suffer from dementia

* researchers evaluated the mental activities of 1,157 people age 65 or older who did not have dementia at the start of the nearly 12-year study.

* people answered questions about how often they participated in mental activities such as :

listening to the radio
watching television, reading
playing games and going to a museum