Brain power jobs may lower dementia risk

Having a mentally stimulating job lowers the risk of dementia by almost a quarter, according to a new study.

Previous research has found that keeping the brain working into later life is essential for staving off cognitive decline and dementia, and the latest study looked at the role of a person’s profession, a scarcely explored area.

Data were collected on more than 100,000 people enrolled in 13 different studies across the world and participants were asked to rate how mentally stimulated they were by their job at the start of the study. People were followed for an average of 17 years to see if they developed dementia.

“High cognitive stimulation jobs included senior government officers, other specialist managers, production and operations managers, social science and related professionals, directors and chief executives, and health professionals (excluding nurses),” study author Prof Mika Kivimaki of UCL said.

“Occupations with low cognitive stimulation were booking clerks, cashiers, agricultural, fishery and related labourers, transport labourers, mobile-plant operators, motor vehicle drivers, metal moulders, welders, sheet-metal workers, structural metal preparers, and related trades workers, textile-, fur- and leather-products machine operators.”

Dementia was found to be 23-per-cent less common in people with active, stimulating jobs than in those with passive professions, the researchers found.

The incidence of dementia among people with a mentally taxing job was 4.8 per 10,000 person years, the study found. For the low mental stimulation group, the level was 7.3.