A study of almost nine million people pinpointed two professions with the lowest risk of Alzheimer’s death out of 443 jobs.
People who work two specific jobs are less likely to die from Alzheimer’s disease, a new study has found. Alzheimer’s is the most common form of dementia in the UK, leading to the progressive decline of the brain.
This results in symptoms such as memory loss, personality changes, and problems with speech. It is thought to be caused by an abnormal build up of proteins in and around brain cells, although it is not known exactly why this happens.
Now research has suggested that the type of job you have can have an affect on your likelihood of developing Alzheimer’s. More specifically, the findings suggest that those working two types of jobs are least at risk from the condition.
The study, which has been published in the British Medical Journal, found that taxi driving and ambulance driving were associated with a lower rate of death from Alzheimer’s disease compared to other professions.
It is thought that the fact these jobs require frequent spatial processing, such as working out a taxi route or the best way to navigate to a hospital, could help keep the brain healthier.
As part of the study, researchers from Mass General Brigham in the US, analysed national data on the occupations of people who had died to evaluate risk of death from Alzheimer’s disease across 443 professions. Lead author and resident physician Vishal Patel, explained: “The same part of the brain that’s involved in creating cognitive spatial maps – which we use to navigate the world around us – is also involved in the development of Alzheimer’s disease.
“We hypothesised that occupations such as taxi driving and ambulance driving, which demand real-time spatial and navigational processing, might be associated with a reduced burden of Alzheimer’s disease mortality compared with other occupations.”
As reported by Science Daily, of the nearly nine million people included in the study from across all occupations, 3.88 percent (348,328) died from Alzheimer’s disease. Among taxi drivers, 1.03 percent died from Alzheimer’s disease, while among ambulance drivers, the rate was 0.74 percent.
After adjustment for other factors, ambulance drivers (0.91 percent) and taxi drivers (1.03 percent) had the lowest proportion of deaths due to Alzheimer’s disease of all occupations studied. However, this trend was not found in other transportation related jobs that use predetermined routes, such as bus drivers (3.11 percent) or aircraft pilots (4.57 percent), that are less reliant on real time spatial and navigational processing.
Moreover, the trend was not seen for other types of dementia. Senior author and physician Anupam B. Jena continued: “Our results highlight the possibility that neurological changes in the hippocampus or elsewhere among taxi and ambulance drivers may account for the lower rates of Alzheimer’s disease.”
But he added: “We view these findings not as conclusive, but as hypothesis-generating. But they suggest that it’s important to consider how occupations may affect risk of death from Alzheimer’s disease and whether any cognitive activities can be potentially preventive.”
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To lower your risk of developing dementia, the NHS recommends:
- Stopping smoking
- Keeping alcohol to a minimum
- Eating a healthy, balanced diet, including at least 5 portions of fruit and vegetables every day
- Exercising for at least 150 minutes every week by doing moderate-intensity aerobic activity
- Making sure your blood pressure is checked and controlled through regular health tests
- If you have diabetes, make sure you keep to the diet and take your medicine
- Staying mentally and socially active