05/21/2009 - 2:15am

Keep Working To Keep Alzheimer's Away

There has been a trend in recent years for people to keep on working after reaching retirement age due to financial and other considerations. New research suggests that there may be a silver lining to the need to continue working.

Research conducted at the Institute of Psychiatry at King's College, London and funded by the Alzheimer's Research Trust and the Medical Research Council, shows that keeping the brain active later in life reduces the chances of early onset of Alzheimer's disease. It seems the intellectual stimulation of work keeps older people away from the "threshold of dementia."

Of course there may be other factors involved- people might have had other diseases before the onset of dementia was formally recorded and as such retired early. Also, diabetes and high blood pressure are known to be risk factors for dementia might be contributing factors.

The data suggested that there is a definite positive effect of continuing cognitive activities later in life and that retirement today can, and often does, include stimulating cognitive activities.

The best advice is to keep physically and socially active, eat a balanced body, and don't let your mind "retire" when you reach retirement age.