Research suggests avoiding Alzheimer’s disease would be easier by keeping the brain active. This can be done by working at a later stage in life.
1,320 dementia patients, including 382 men took part in a research.  Results show that for men who continue to work late in life and kept their brain sharper helped delay dementia.
Institute of Psychiatry at King’s College London supported the study. The same features in the International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry.
Experts estimate that by 2051 the number of people having dementia could be 1.7m. Currently in the UK alone, there are 700,000 cases of reported dementia.
The mass loss of cell in the brain causes dementia. Building up as many connections between cells as possible by being active throughtout life, not just physically but mentally as well could help avoid dementia. This is called “cognitive reserve”.
Researcher Dr John Powell said: “The possibility that a person’s cognitive reserve could still be modified later in life adds weight to the “use it or lose it” concept where keeping active later in life has important health benefits, including reducing dementia risk.” He also added: “Much more research is needed if we are to understand how to effectively delay, or even prevent, dementia.”
Alzheimer’s Research Trust, funded the study. Rebecca Wood, chief executive of the Alzheimer’s Research Trust said “More people than ever retire later in life to avert financial hardship, but there may be a silver lining – lower dementia risk.”
“There could be a number of reasons why later retirement in men is linked with later onset of dementia. Men who retire early often do so because of health conditions, such as hypertension or diabetes, which increase your risk of dementia” said Dr Susanne Sorensen, head of research at the Alzheimer’s Society. She also adds, “It could also be that working helps keep your mind and body active, which we know reduces risk of dementia.” More information can be found rom the source article.