A group of aged Rotorua people are finding playing bridge is helping keep their minds as sharp as a tack.
Every Thursday afternoon, the Arawa Bridge Club gets together and five members over the age of 90 take an active part in games - Noreen Richardson, Muriel Baker, Margaret Hatrick, Phyl Clark and Trevor Terry.
Noreen, 90, who recently sat and passed her two-yearly aged driver's licence test, says she has been playing bridge since the early 1960s and finds it has helped keep her mind active and working.Drivers must renew their licences at age 75, 80 and every two years after that, and their vision and health must be checked.
Noreen plays flying-500 at the RSA every Tuesday and only wears glasses for reading.
"Bridge is a murderous thing to play... you really have to have your brain about you. When you get to my age, your brain does get a little bit tangled."
She is convinced playing Bridge helps ward off Alzheimer's disease and dementia.
"Absolutely it does. You have to think about what other people are doing as you make your calls and find out what your partner has got... you are using your brain all the time to keep on top of everything and remember what is going on. I'm not a particularly good player but I think it does keep you sharp. You have to be aware of what is going on."
She has made some great friendships through playing bridge.
"It's a really social game and gets me out of the house."
Club member Bobbie Dittmer says the card game is a fabulous one to play and is ideal to help with memory retention.
"Every hand is different. It's a real thinking game and you have to be as sharp as a tack to keep up."
Bobbie says she read an article in the Washington Post about a 2003 research study which found that games such as chess, bridge, and Scrabble can help ward off brain diseases.
"It's proven it lowers the rate of Alzheimer's and dementia."
Alzheimer's Rotorua community co-ordinator Lyn Soeters says there is evidence that keeping yourself active and socialising by doing jigsaw puzzles and playing Scrabble, chess and card games does help slow down the dementia process. She has noticed those clients who keep active don't seem to experience as much memory loss as quickly as those who sit around doing nothing.
"It does slow down the process and helps keep the brain sharp. It helps keep you alert ... feeling loved and all those other things also help... what is good for the heart is also good for the brain. If people are able to be physically active, it helps get oxygen to the brain through the blood."