The Institute of Psychiatry at King’s College London, England studied 1,320 patients with dementia and found that the onset of the disease was delayed among those who worked until later in life.
Building up Brain Cells
Reporting on the study on May 17, 2009, BBC News noted that “Dementia is caused by the mass loss of cells in the brain, and experts believe one way to guard against it is to build up as many connections between cells as possible by being mentally active throughout life. This is known as a ‘cognitive reserve.’ ”
This cognitive reserve can be developed through schooling and there is some evidence to suggest that people with higher levels of education are less likely to suffer from dementia.
Later Retirement Connected to later Dementia
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.”
Continuing to work after age 65 clearly means more mental stimulation. According to the British study, each year of additional work after normal retirement age leads to a six-week delay in the onset of brain-wasting disease.
Researcher Professor Simon Lovestone said: “The intellectual stimulation that older people gain from the workplace may prevent a decline in mental abilities, thus keeping people above the threshold for dementia for longer.”
Huge Human and Financial Cost of Dementia
According to BBC News, “Around 700,000 people in the U.K. currently have dementia and experts have estimated that by 2051, the number could stand at 1.7m.”
It is estimated that the condition already costs the U.K. economy £17 billion (about $30 billion Canadian) a year.”
The total worldwide cost of dementia care is estimated to be US$315.4 billion annually. This figure comes from a report published in “An Estimate of the Total Worldwide Societal Costs of Dementia in 2005,” in the April 2007 issue of Alzheimer’s & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer’s Association.
The article also estimated that in 2003 there were 27.7 million people suffering from dementia worldwide.
Alzheimer’s Disease International says this number will increase dramatically in the next few decades: “Dementia affects 1 in 20 people over the age of 65 and 1 in 5 over the age of 80…By 2050, the number (of people with dementia) will rise to over 100 million.”
Mental Stimulation Can Reduce Damage
As the King’s College London study has shown to toll of this debilitating illness can be lessened.
This conclusion is corroborated by Michael Valenzuela from the School of Psychiatry at the University of New South Wales in Australia. Dr. Valenzuela compiled data from 29,000 people. Reporting on the study on January 25, 2006, MSNBC said that “individuals with high mental stimulation had a 46 percent decreased risk of dementia. The protective effect was present even in later life, so long as the individuals engaged in mentally stimulating activities.”
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