People with more demanding jobs may live longer even after developing a form of dementia than people with less skilled jobs, claims a new research.
Frontotemporal dementia, which often affects people under the age of 65, results in changes in personality or behavior and problems with language but does not affect the memory.
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"The results show that having a higher occupational level protects the brain from some of the effects of this disease, allowing people to live longer after developing the disease," said Lauren Massimo from University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.
People with frontotemporal dementia typically live six to 10 years after the symptoms emerge but little has been known about what factors contribute to this range.
![People Over 65 Years with Depression, Type-2 Diabetes At Higher Risk for Dementia]( "People Over 65 Years with Depression, Type-2 Diabetes At Higher Risk for Dementia")
Diabetes is associated with a 20% greater risk of dementia, depression with an 83% greater risk, while having both was associated with a 117% greater risk.
For the study, researchers reviewed the medical charts of 83 people, who had an autopsy after death to confirm the diagnosis of frontotemporal dementia or Alzheimer's disease.
They also had information about the people's primary occupation. Occupations were ranked as factory and service workers in the lowest level; jobs such as trades workers and sales people in the next level; and professional and technical workers such as lawyers and engineers in the highest level.
Researchers measured when the symptoms began by the earliest report from family members of persistently abnormal behavior. Survival was defined as from the time symptoms began until death.
The 34 people with frontotemporal dementia had an average survival time of about seven years. The people with more challenging jobs were more likely to have longer survival times than those with less challenging jobs.
"People in the highest occupation level survived an average of 116 months, while people in the lower occupation group survived an average of 72 months, suggesting that individuals, who had been in the professional workforce may live up to three years longer," the authors noted.
The study found that occupational level was not associated with longer survival for the people with Alzheimer's disease.
The findings add evidence to the "cognitive reserve" theory that experiences such as more education, higher occupation and mental activity build up connections in the brain that create a buffer against disease.
The paper appeared online in the journal Neurology.
Source: IANS
People Over 65 Years with Depression, Type-2 Diabetes At Higher Risk for Dementia
Diabetes is associated with a 20% greater risk of dementia, depression with an 83% greater risk, while having both was associated with a 117% greater risk.
Advertisement
For the study, researchers reviewed the medical charts of 83 people, who had an autopsy after death to confirm the diagnosis of frontotemporal dementia or Alzheimer's disease.
They also had information about the people's primary occupation. Occupations were ranked as factory and service workers in the lowest level; jobs such as trades workers and sales people in the next level; and professional and technical workers such as lawyers and engineers in the highest level.
Researchers measured when the symptoms began by the earliest report from family members of persistently abnormal behavior. Survival was defined as from the time symptoms began until death.
The 34 people with frontotemporal dementia had an average survival time of about seven years. The people with more challenging jobs were more likely to have longer survival times than those with less challenging jobs.
"People in the highest occupation level survived an average of 116 months, while people in the lower occupation group survived an average of 72 months, suggesting that individuals, who had been in the professional workforce may live up to three years longer," the authors noted.
The study found that occupational level was not associated with longer survival for the people with Alzheimer's disease.
The findings add evidence to the "cognitive reserve" theory that experiences such as more education, higher occupation and mental activity build up connections in the brain that create a buffer against disease.
The paper appeared online in the journal Neurology.
Source: IANS
Arts and Crafts Activities, Socializing in Middle, Old Ages could Prevent Dementia
Engaging the mind can protect neurons from dying, stimulate growth of new neurons, or help recruit new neurons to maintain cognitive activities in old age.
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Therapeutic Procedure of Sending Electrical Impulses to the Brain may Cure DementiaLed by a researcher of Indian origin, the study reveals that stimulating the brain though minute amounts of electricity enhances short and long-term memory. | Advertisement
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