William Atkins
Wednesday, 20 May 2009 19:09
Science -
Health
Page 2 of 3
The May 18, 2009 Guardian.co.uk article “
Delaying retirement could prevent early dementia, say scientists” added, however, that other explanations for the study’s results may be possible.
The article states,
“People who had early disease symptoms before the onset of dementia was formally recorded may have been influenced by these when they made their decision to retire early. Similarly, they may have had hypertension or diabetes, both risk factors for dementia."
The Guardian articler added,
"The possibility that the nature of retirement is changing must also be considered. It is at least plausible that retirement has become more stimulating over time. Our data suggests a continuing positive effect of cognitive activities into later life. This may give some encouragement to the increasing investigations into cognitive training in later life and adds weight to the notion of an active retirement."
On the other hand, a Finnish study, published in the
American Journal of Epidemiology, recently found that working longer hours than normal increases the risk of “
mental decline and possibly dementia.”
The study was lead by Marianna Virtanen, from the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health. It is entitled “
Long Working Hours and Cognitive Function.”
The study was based on 2,214 middle-aged British civil servants.
Specifically, the conclusion of the study found that working more than 55 hours per week resulted in
“poorer mental skills than those who worked a standard working week.”
Those participants that worked more than 55 hours per week had more problems with short-term memory and word recall than those people working normal hours each week (40 hours).
Page three concludes.
