It is no surprise that I love knitting. It has been a the driving force that has kept me sane for most of my life. However recently I was quite surprised to find out just how therapeutic it is for both mind and body. In an article, "The Truth About Knitting" put together by the Craft Yarn Council, the results of many studies have shown just how good knitting can be.
Common wisdom has it that brain and word games
like crossword puzzles and math games like sudoku may help keep the brain sharp over time. But
what about two sharp sticks and some yarn?
Yonas Geda, associate
professor of Neurology and Psychiatry at the Mayo Clinic in Arizona, published
a study in the Spring 2011 edition of The Journal of Neuropsychiatry
& Clinical Neurosciences that
validated crafters of all stripes. His research showed that people who engaged
their minds by reading books, playing games or crafting had a decreased risk of
mild cognitive impairment, a possible precursor to Alzheimer’s Disease and
other forms of dementia.
“The study suggests that engaging in
certain types of mentally stimulating acts,” Geda says, “is associated with
decreased risk of cognitive impairment.”
Their study looked at 1,321
adults, ages 70 to 89, 197 of whom had been identified as already having mild
cognitive impairment. Both the normal and cognitively impaired groups were
surveyed about their activities within the last year.
The study demonstrated that
using the brain might prevent losing it. The data showed that computer use,
playing games, crafting, reading books and watching less TV resulted in a
striking 30 to 50 percent decrease in the odds of having mild cognitive
impairment.
Though the study didn't examine exactly how these activities might protect the brain, it did reference
other works suggesting that mentally active people overall might live healthier
lifestyles, maybe exercising and eating better, or that cognitive activity
might promote the development of new neuro pathways—or cognitive reserves. In
other words, staying mentally active through knitting and reading, etc. makes
“deposits” to an individual’s brain “bank”; this can possibly buffer against
Alzheimer’s Disease and other forms of dementia.
“Some people are normal when they die but
show a neuropathological burden during autopsy,” Geda says. “They have
cognitive reserves. One of the theories is that engaging in mental activities
stimulates the development of these cognitive reserves.”
Another study was done looking at burnout and stress, using nurses this time. In 2010, two Georgetown oncology
nurses—stressed out by their jobs and graduate school—decided to use Project
Knitwell for their thesis research. Personally aware of the incredible strain
and loss oncology nurses experience, Lyndsay Anderson and Christina Urso
wondered whether knitting might mitigate some of the burnout—or “compassion
fatigue”—these nurses experienced. The grad students administered a survey to
the nurses that measured burnout at two junctures: before learning to knit and
13 weeks later, after they had learned and been working with Project Knitwell
volunteers.
“Anecdotally we knew everyone on
the unit was suffering,” Anderson says. “Nobody was doing fine.” Indeed all 39
nurses who participated showed some degree of compassion fatigue in the
“before” test.
Each nurse was taught to
cast-on and knit. In addition, Project Knitwell volunteers appeared regularly
on the oncology units to fix mistakes and assist them in choosing new projects
should they want to progress. Knit kits were also stashed on the oncology
floors, so nurses could knit spontaneously.
The results were significant.
Everyone’s burnout scores improved, especially the nurses who were the most
burned out prior to the study. In answers to open-ended questions, nurses
extolled the soothing rhythm of knitting and distraction from work-related
fatigue. Though the sample was small, it was enough to convince hospital
administrators to add Project Knitwell to its staff enrichment programs as well
as provide sessions to graduating nurses.
“Oncology nurses really have nothing
tangible to show for their work, because at the end of the day, their patients
are still suffering,” explains Anderson, who’s now a family nurse practitioner
in the hospital’s Ourisman Breast Health Center. “But if you have something
artistic to work on, it does give you some sense of accomplishment.”
So basically knitting improves your brain....or you could knit a brain???
The link is a 12 minute video on the health benefits of crocheting and knitting...take a look!
Changing Global Health One Stitch At A Time
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