Speaking two languages, researchers report, may help delay the effects of Alzheimers disease. Canadian scientists studied 450 patients, all with similar degrees of impairment from Alzheimers disease. Half of the patients were bilingual. Although being bilingual cant actually protect people from developing Alzheimers, researchers told the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, it may help delay the onset of debilitating effects: The bilingual patients were diagnosed with Alzheimers four to five years later than the patients who spoke only one language. The patients in the study had mostly been bilingual for many years, but researchers suggested that people who learn a second language later in life might also benefit by exercising the brains executive control ability.
