Canadian study shows bilingualism has protective effect in delaying onset of dementia by four years

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. This difference remained even after considering the possible effect of cultural differences, immigration, formal education, employment and even gender as influencers in the results.
“There are no pharmacological interventions that are this dramatic,” says Dr. Freedman, who is Head of the Division of Neurology, and Director of the Memory Clinic at Baycrest, referring to the four-year delay in onset of symptoms for bilingual patients.

“The data show a huge protective effect,” adds co-investigator Dr. Craik, who cautioned that this is still a preliminary finding but nonetheless in line with a number of other recent findings about lifestyle effects on dementia.

The team is working on a follow-up study that will further examine bilingualism and dementia onset. They plan to conduct interviews and cognitive assessments on bilingual and monolingual patients in Baycrest’s Memory Clinic and follow them for a few years.

The study in Neuropsychologia was funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. Baycrest is an internationally renowned academic health sciences centre affiliated with the University of Toronto. Baycrest provides a spectrum of health care services to older adults, and conducts basic and applied research with a strong focus on brain functioning and mental health.

http://www.baycrest.org/Research/News/default_12330.asp

Следовательно, два государственных языка - это не развал Украины, а улучшение качества жизни населения и уменьшение затрат на мед.услуги, связанные с угасанием мыслительных процессов в старческом возрасте.