Social jobs like pulling pints can help protect the brain against dementia
But people who work mainly with data, or physical things, face a greater danger
PULLING pints could prevent dementia, a study has shown.
It found social jobs such as bar work with lots of human interaction protects the brain against Alzheimer’s.
But people who work mainly with data, or physical things, face a greater danger.
A study by the Wisconsin Alzheimer’s Disease Research Centre and the Wisconsin Alzheimer’s Institute in the US also suggest mentally challenging jobs have the same benefit.
They make brains more resistant to the damage that causes Alzheimer’s.
Researchers performed brain scans on 284 elderly people who were at risk of dementia but not yet developed it.
They looked for white matter hyperintensities – signs of early damage in the brain - and recorded current and previous jobs.
The results, presented at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference in Toronto, Canada, showed both those with social jobs and complex jobs had healthier brain function – even if they had similar or even higher levels of white-matter hyperintensities than those in boring jobs.
A separate study found the benefits of having an active job outweigh the damaging effects of a bad "Western" diet, high red and processed meats, white bread, potatoes, pre-packaged foods and sweets.
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Dr Maria Carrillo, Alzheimer’s Association chief science officer, said: "These new data add to a growing body of research that suggests more stimulating lifestyles, including more complex work environments with other people, are associated with better cognitive outcomes in later life.
"Formal education and complex occupation could potentially do more than just slow cognitive decline – they may actually help compensate for the cognitive damage done by bad diet and small vessel disease in the brain.
"It is becoming increasingly clear that in addition to searching for pharmacological treatments, we need to address lifestyle factors to better treat and ultimately prevent Alzheimer’s and other dementias."
Researcher Dr Alexandra Fiocco, from Ryerson University, in Toronto, Canada said: "These results suggest that educated older adults with a history of mentally stimulating work and who remain socially engaged may be spared from the adverse effect of a Western diet on age-related cognitive decline."
Alzheimer’s Society director Dr Doug Brown said: "Everyone’s brains experience some wear and tear as they get older.
"But this study suggests complex jobs involving working with others might help to make people more resilient to the damage.
"This could mean they are less likely to develop problems with memory and thinking.
"For many of us, the complexity of our job isn’t something we can easily change, so we need to see more research into other ways for people to build up their resilience to dementia."
PC brain-training games cut the risk of dementia
USING computer brain-training games can cut the risk of dementia by a third, research shows.
Twenty hour-long online workouts slashed the chances of getting the brain-wasting illness in the next ten years by more than 30 per cent.
A decade-long study of 3,000 elderly people was carried out in Baltimore, US.
Some got classroom, training, some on computer and some none.
Results showed there were 33 per cent fewer dementia cases in the computer-taught group.