Older adults who participated in daily intellectual activities had a lower risk of developing dementia, according to a new study, reports Medpage Today.

The study followed Chinese adults for seven years.

According to Medpage Today:

“Odds for developing dementia were significantly lower in individuals who participated in daily intellectual activities, such as reading or playing cards … reported Allen T. C. Lee, MBChB, of The Chinese University of Hong Kong, and colleagues.

"’Dementia is a major public health concern worldwide. Finding ways to delay or prevent the clinical onset of dementia is now a key priority, as disease-modifying treatment is lacking, and populations are rapidly aging,’" they wrote in JAMA Psychiatry.”

Key statistics from the observational study showed that 67 percent of 14,233 people who did not develop dementia participated in intellectual activities daily. Of the people who did develop dementia, only 51 percent participated in daily intellectual activities.

The study of 15,582 Chinese individuals 65 years old and up, isolated intellectual activity from “regular physical exercise, adequate fruit and vegetable intake, and not smoking,” the authors wrote in JAMA Psychiatry.

Some of the study’s intellectual activities were “reading books, newspapers, or magazines; playing board games, Mahjong, or card games; and betting on horse racing,”

“Active participation in intellectual activities, even in late life, might help delay or prevent dementia in older adults,” the study concluded.