Alzheimer News:

Study: People With More Mentally Stimulating Jobs Less Likely to Get Alzheimer's

People who don’t get Alzheimer's are more likely to have had a more mentally stimulating work life than those who develop the disease, according to a study reported in the August 10 issue of Neurology.

Researchers at University Hospitals of Cleveland and Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) School of Medicine studied 122 people with Alzheimer's and 235 people without the disease. All participants were more than 60 years old. The researchers gathered information about their occupational history from the ages of 20 through 60.

"We didn't simply classify study subjects as blue collar or white collar," said researcher Kathleen Smyth, PhD, of the University Memory and Aging Center. "We drilled down further into occupational tasks, to classify a job as mentally stimulating based on its complexity, variety of tasks, whether it involved creative thinking or manipulation of data. Less mentally demanding jobs included more routine and monotonous tasks."

Smyth and her colleagues found that the mental demands of occupations when people were in their 20’s did not appear linked to later development of Alzheimer's. But starting in their 30's, those people who did not develop Alzheimer's were found to have jobs that were more mentally stimulating than those who developed Alzheimer's later in life. And that difference in occupational experiences in the two groups persisted during their 40's and 50's.

"It could be that the disease has a very early effect on the individual's capacity to pursue a mentally challenging occupation," said Dr. Smyth. "Or, it could be that higher levels of mental demands result in increased brain cell activity, which may help maintain a reserve of brain cells that resists the effects of Alzheimer's.”

“There is also the possibility that jobs with higher demands require skills that enhance an individual's ability to perform well on the tests used to diagnose Alzheimer's,” Smyth continued. “If this is the case, then the disease may go undetected in these people until (it) is much farther along than in those whose jobs pose lower mental demands."

These findings are consistent with earlier studies conducted by CWRU/University Hospitals of Cleveland researchers that linked participation in leisure activities like playing chess, reading books, learning a musical instrument or a new language to less risk of developing Alzheimer’s later in life.

"It is important to recognize the link between Alzheimer's and daily life activities that are under our control," said researcher Robert Friedland, MD, of the University Memory and Aging Center. “Other lifestyle factors influencing the risk include diet and physical activity.”

Source: Medical Week staff, week of August 9, 2004