Challenging brain in older age may reduce dementia risk, study finds

Participants in the study were over the age of 70 and did not have a major cognitive impairment when recruited between 2010 and 2014. Photograph: Marc Romanelli/Getty/Blend Images

Taking part in activities such as chess, writing a journal, or educational classes in older age may help to reduce the risk of dementia, a study has suggested.

According to the World Health Organization, more than 55 million people have the disease worldwide, most of them older people.