Many of us dread the possibility of being diagnosed with dementia in our old age. But folks in one type of job may have less to fear, according to a recent study.
Working in jobs that require frequent spatial processing — such as taxi or ambulance drivers — might reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s disease, according to researchers at the Mass General Brigham health care system. Such jobs can involve figuring out the best route to get to your destination, for example.
The researchers found evidence that neurological changes in the hippocampus or elsewhere in the brain account for the protective effect against Alzheimer’s disease.
The study was published in BMJ, the flagship scientific journal of the British Medical Association.
In a summary of the findings, lead study author Dr. Vishal Patel of the Department of Surgery at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston — says:
“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.”
The researchers analyzed medical data from nearly 9 million people across 443 occupations. Among taxi drivers, 1.03% died from Alzheimer’s disease. Among ambulance drivers, the rate was 0.74%.
That compares to a 3.88% rate of fatal Alzheimer’s diagnosis across all professions.
The lower rates of Alzheimer’s disease were not found in transportation-related professions that have predetermined routes. For example, bus drivers (3.11%) and aircraft pilots (4.57%) had rates of Alzheimer’s closer to those of all professions.
So it appears that it is the reliance on real-time spatial and navigational processing that might lower Alzheimer’s risk.
The association between using such processing skills and lower rates of Alzheimer’s disease was not found with other forms of dementia.
The study’s authors emphasized that their findings were observational and that more research needs to be done to determine the precise nature of cause and effect.
For more on the risk of avoiding Alzheimer’s, check out:
Add a Comment