While medical fraternity has been trying to find a possible solution for dementia, here comes another research which has claimed that involving regular mental exercises in daily routine could do a lot in inhibiting the growth of dementia. Thus, such patients must be told to solve puzzles or Sudoku so that their mental wiring could be given some leeway.

It was found by a team from Friedrich-Alexander University in Erlangen, Germany. The team is told to have gone through a two-hour therapy session called MAKS in nursing homes for six days a week for a year. The team first conducted a 10-minute spiritual introduction in which 98 patients were told about happiness, or sang a song or hymn, etc. the team instructed patients to solve puzzles in groups for half an hour along with incubating them for 40 minutes in day to day activities.

The team examined the level of the disease after one year and found significant decline in the development of the disease. “While we observed a better result for patients with mild to moderate dementia, the result of MAKS therapy on ADAS was at least as good as treatment with cholinesterase inhibitors”, said Prof. Graessel who was part of the team.

It has been known that dementia could be identified once a person shows symptoms including confusion, loss of memory, and problems with speech and understanding. Published in BioMed Central's open access journal BMC Medicine, the study has once again brought about the severity of the disease wide open.

There is need to give due attention to those who are reeling under the scar of dementia. Such patients must not be left out instead they should be given enough space in one’s life.

Extensive research based on the same theory is being called for so that concrete measures could be adopted for the same.