Working these five 'demanding' jobs could rocket your risk of dementia
Dementia affects around one in 11 Brits over the age of 65, but did you know that working certain jobs can rocket your risk of developing the neurodegenerative disease?
Research conducted by the Norwegian National Centre of Ageing and Health, Columbia Mailman School of Public Health and the Butler Columbia Aging Center identified that employees in careers that require high levels of physical activity could face an increased risk of cognitive impairment and dementia.
According to the NHS, dementia is an umbrella term to describe a range of progressive conditions that affect the brain. The condition stops a person’s neurons from working properly, making it difficult for them to remember, think and speak.
Speaking about their study, the authors wrote: “Consistently working in an occupation with intermediate or high occupational physical activity was linked to an increased risk of cognitive impairment, indicating the importance of developing strategies for individuals in physically demanding occupations to prevent cognitive impairment.”
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They provided examples of five physically demanding jobs, these include:
Salespeople - Retail and other
Nursing assistants
Care assistants
Crop farmers
Animal producers
The term ‘physically demanding’ details the ones that "require considerable use of your arms and legs and moving your whole body, such as climbing, lifting, balancing, walking, stooping, and handling of materials", explained the scientists.
Nursing assistants could face a greater risk of dementia (Getty Images/Onoky)This comes as recent research found that sitting down for more than 10 hours a day can “rapidly” increase the risk of developing the brain-robbing disease.
The HUNT4 70+ Study, which used one of the world's largest population-based studies of dementia, saw researchers explore how occupational physical activity between the ages of 33 and 65 was associated with a risk of developing dementia and mild cognitive impairment after the age of 70, reports the Sun.
As part of the study, the scientists analysed the data of 7,005 participants, and found that 902 were diagnosed with dementia later in life. Their findings also revealed that 2,407 were diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment.
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Participants that worked physically demanding roles had a 15.5 percent higher risk of developing dementia or being cognitively impaired. This figure fell to nine percent for those working jobs with low physical demands.
According to the researchers, there were "several plausible explanations" as to why people in physically demanding careers face an increased risk of the condition.
They said: "Higher occupational physical demands in later adulthood have previously been linked to smaller hippocampal volume and poorer memory performance. Similarly, individuals working in physically hazardous jobs or with high job demands - psychological or physical - combined with low job control have been found to perform poorer on cognitive tests in later age."
The findings suggest that occupations with a higher physical demand could have a “detrimental effect” on brain health and cognitive function in older people, increasing the risk of impairment later in life.
Crop farmers could also face a higher risk of the brain-robbing condition (Getty Images)Demanding roles, such as sales or nursing, as “often characterised by a lack of autonomy, prolonged standing, hard work, rigid working hours, stress, a higher risk of burnout, and sometimes [...] inconvenient working days," the authors stated.
The researchers said that the lack of time to recover and recuperate from the physical demands could lead to “wear and tear” for both the body and the brain. However, jobs that require low physical execution may provide employees with flexible working hours, with more time for breaks and recovery.
Meanwhile, positions that don’t demand bursts of physical activity, such as teaching and administration could be "more cognitively stimulating, which could contribute to more favourable cognitive development throughout the course of a person's life", they added.
Lead author Vegard Skirbekk, a professor of Population and Family Health at Columbia Public Health, said: “Our work also highlights what is called the physical activity paradox – the association of leisure time physical activity with better cognitive outcomes, and how work related physical activity can lead to worse cognitive outcomes.”
The expert highlighted that the preclinical period of dementia could start up to two decades prior to symptom onset. He added: “Our results particularly underscore the need to follow up on individuals with high lifetime occupational, physical activity as they appear to have a greater risk of developing dementia.
Scientists believe the preclinical period of dementia could start two decades before symptoms (Getty Images/iStockphoto)“Future research should assess how occupational physical activity and interventions to reduce occupational physical activity or technological changes leading to altered activity, in combination with other characteristics of the job, relate to dementia and mild cognitive impairment risk in older ages.
"This will further our understanding of the association between occupational histories and cognitive impairment.”
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