[00:00.10]From VOA Learning English,
[00:02.45]this is the Health Report.
[00:05.52]New research suggests
[00:07.67]that speaking more than one language
[00:10.99]may delay different kinds of dementia,
[00:14.53]that is the lost of mental ability.
[00:18.23]In fact, researchers say,
[00:20.64]speaking two languages
[00:22.95]appears to be more important
[00:25.50]than the level of education
[00:27.60]in defending against dementias.
[00:30.95]A study in India examined the effect
[00:34.40]of knowing more than one language
[00:36.90]in delaying the first signs of several disorders,
[00:41.25]these included Alzheimer's disease,
[00:44.15]frontotemporal dementia, vascular dementia,
[00:48.99]Lewy bodies dementia and mixed dementias.
[00:53.93]Researchers studied nearly 650 people
[00:58.14]whose average age was 66.
[01:01.20]240 of those studied suffered from Alzheimer's,
[01:06.30]the most common form of mental decline.
[01:09.61]391 of the subjects spoke two or more languages.
[01:15.77]Investigators found the dementias began about
[01:19.69]four-and-a-half years later in those who were bilingual
[01:25.13]compared to those who spoke only one language.
[01:28.76]The level of education had no effect
[01:31.57]on the age at the first sign of dementia.
[01:35.13]Thomas Bak helped to organise the study.
[01:39.03]He is with the Center of Cognitive Aging
[01:42.39]at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland.
[01:46.20]He suggests that individuals
[01:49.54]who speak more than one language
[01:51.75]train their brains by moving back and forth
[01:56.20]between different words and expressions.
[02:00.16]Mr Bok believes this effort improves
[02:03.52]what scientists called executive functioning
[02:08.22]or attention to tasks,
[02:10.77]this mental ability often weakens in people with dementias.
[02:16.47]Researchers found there was no extra gain
[02:20.69]in speaking more than two languages.
[02:23.85]They also did not see a delay
[02:27.00]in the first signs of Lewy bodies dementia,
[02:31.30]the disorder causes patients to see
[02:34.61]or experience things that do not real exist.
[02:39.22]They can also cause sufferers to move back and forth
[02:43.93]between being wide awake and really sleeping.
[02:47.79]Mr Bak says it does not appear important
[02:51.85]whether you learn a language at a young age or later in life.
[02:56.51]"So it's not something you sort of say that
[02:58.91]'[if] you missed the boat when you do not do it as a baby.'
[03:01.84]It is something that is still quite useful
[03:05.45]and powerful when you do it as an adult," he said.
[03:08.00]Scientists found that speaking more than one language
[03:12.05]help delay the first signs of dementias,
[03:15.41]even in those who could not read.
[03:18.91]An article on the benefits of bilingualism on dementias
[03:23.16]was published this month in the journal Neurology.
[03:28.33]And that is the VOA Health Report from VOA Learning English.