Dr Oscar says viral '10-second finger exercise' could help prevent dementia

Dr Oscar says viral '10-second finger exercise' could help prevent dementia The simple exercise has been viewed by millions A BBC Morning Live doctor has revealed that a finger exercise sweeping TikTok could be a surprisingly powerful weapon in the fight against dementia. The trend, dubbed 'pinky time', involves crossing your index and middle fingers, touching your thumb and ring finger together, and then wiggling your little finger for around 10 seconds. The concept is that the routine is quick and straightforward, while also giving your brain a proper workout. It has caught on massively, with millions of people giving it a go. It's also been suggested that struggling with the movement could signal poor cognitive health. Dr Oscar Duke, a prominent medical expert who regularly features on the BBC One programme, admitted he was initially doubtful. However, after examining it more closely, he said he was taken aback to discover there could be genuine health benefits. What Dr Oscar said "Well, pinky time, if you don't know, you haven't seen it on social media, it's been doing the rounds," Dr Oscar said. "It's something that you do with your fingers. "So, what they're saying online is that this has a benefit to your cognition, can reduce the risk of diseases like Alzheimer's dementia causing you to have impairment in your memory. Now, you might think that that sounds absolutely ridiculous, which was my initial thought. But actually, when I've looked into it, there have been some studies in China where they've looked at finger exercises. I should say it is not necessarily pinky time. And they have found a modest improvement in cognitive impairment in people who already had mild cognitive impairment with doing regular finger exercises. "They didn't see huge improvements in people who had more severe forms of dementia, Alzheimer's-type dementia within the later stages. But potentially some benefits to that concentration they think that's to do with the brain pathways that are involved in that process. Absolutely not conclusive yet, but unless it's hurting your fingers, maybe a good little exercise to be doing. Just don't be rude to anyone when you're doing it." Dr Oscar was subsequently asked what those already living with dementia can do to slow its progression. He responded: "It's a horrible condition, and unfortunately, we still don't have a cure for it, although scientists are working against the clock on new medications. "We're seeing these headlines and research stories all the time. So there's definitely hope coming in the future. I think the most important things are actually think about the simple things that you can do in your life, what you can do to help someone you know who might be starting to suffer or even to prevent them from suffering. "Isolation is a major factor. Reducing isolation, engaging with people, talking, doing activities, and reducing other things that might contribute to isolation. So if somebody's losing their hearing, encouraging them to wear hearing aids. If they're struggling with their vision, keeping all these senses working, you know, get glasses, have whatever treatment might be needed, have your cataract sorted so that that's less of a problem for you if you possibly can. So there are all of those elements. "And then there are things that can keep our blood vessels healthy. And we know that if you have, you know, problems with your heart blood vessels, you get significant problems. Dementia, particularly vascular dementias, can be caused by furring up of the tiny little blood vessels in our brain. So anything that will help with that, exercising, keeping your weight well-controlled, stopping smoking, keeping your cholesterol and your blood pressure controlled, they will help to reduce the risk of those vascular types of dementia causing problem."