Your Career Can be Linked to a Healthier Brain
New research has suggested that the more you use your brain in your workplace, the less likely you are to suffer from memory loss or cognitive problems in your later life.
Those who do mentally stimulating jobs - teaching was one example - have been found to be sixty six percent less likely to develop mild cognitive impairment or MCI and dementia in retirement than those with more physical demanding jobs.
The research also found that even the work carried out in your thirties can help to determine how well your brain functions when you finally retire. If the work you do is quite mentally challenging instead of heavily physical or routine and repetitive, you will gain the most benefits.
Summing up the research
Trine Holt Edwin of Oslo University Hospital in Norway reported:
"Our research shows that it is never too late to start learning something new. All cognitively demanding activities later in life contribute to strengthening our cognitive reserve."
He went on to say:
"We examined he demands of various jobs and found that cognitive stimulation at work during different stages in life - during your thirties, forties, fifties and sixties - was linked to a reduced risk of mild cognitive impairment after the age of seventy."
"Our findings highlight the value of having a job that requires more complex thinking as a way to possibly maintain memory and thinking in old age."
The study followed seven thousand people in Norway with three hundred and five different occupations in Norway.
More information about MCI
These MCI patients are known to have more memory problems (or other cognitive impairment) than other people of the same age.
MCI can be a sign of a disease that will eventually cause dementia. However, it is important to note that it is not actually dementia itself - and can be caused by other illnesses too.
More about how the study was conducted
Participants over the age of seventy completed memory and thinking tests to assess whether they had mild cognitive impairment.
- Of those with the lowest cognitive demands, forty two percent were diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment.
- Of those with the highest cognitive demands, twenty sever percent were diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment.
Dr Edwin added:
"These results indicate that both education and doing work that challenges your brain during your career play a crucial role in lowering the risk of cognitive impairment later in life."
SOURCES:
https://www.neurology.org/doi/10.1212/CPJ.0000000000001115
Alzheimer's disease: Can exercise prevent memory loss? - Mayo Clinic
Adopting a healthy lifestyle helps reduce the risk of dementia (who.int)
Written by Jane Chitty
Jane writes for Healing Natural Oils, a producer and retailer of high-quality, all-natural treatments for a variety of conditions as well as a range of beauty products. Apart from writing about those various conditions, she also covers general health, environmental and other subjects of interest. She has lived in Kenya as well as Cape Town, South Africa and spent time in San Diego, USA. She now lives in Somerset, England with regular visits from her far-flung children and grandchildren. She is a keen gardener and enjoys growing fresh fruit and vegetables with her husband on their joint allotment. As a result, there is something available to use in the kitchen virtually all year round. Her regular posts can be found on our blog.