Delaying retirement lowers risk of Alzheimer's, dementia

[explanade]

Putting Off Retirement May Help Stave Off Alzheimer's – WebMD

Some doctor said if you delay retirement from 65 to 85, you would reduce the chances of getting Alzheimer's by 60% -- because the study says for each year retirement is deferred, the risk is reduced by 3%.

 

[REWahoo]

As usual, the devil is in the details:

The study showed an association between higher retirement age and lower dementia risk, but not a cause-and-effect relationship.

 

[Major Tom]

Well that's the end of that thread then

 

[Senator]

I am willing to take the gamble...

 

[samclem]

As usual, the devil is in the details:

Quote:
The study showed an association between higher retirement age and lower dementia risk, but not a cause-and-effect relationship.

Yes. I guess there's no reason to think that people with dementia just might retire earlier for that reason.

 

[explanade]

Of course if you work until 85, you might not get dementia but die or get sick with other illnesses related to the work.

 

[misshathaway]

Hopefully the actual cause will be what the early retiree DOES in retirement. There was another study I read today that showed a correlation between depression and then the onset of Alzheimers. Maybe if you decrease your daily activity, stop doing anything that challenges your brain, eat more, start feeling useless b/c no job to go to, it will mess up your health and indeed make Alzheimers more likely.

 

[Bestwifeever]

I'm sure my 66 year old doc would agree.

I didn't think anything could stave off Alzheimers.

 

[samclem]

I haven't found the original study, but there's a little more information here: http://www.alzheimersanddementia.com/article/S1552-5260(13)00358-0/fulltext#sec3

It says:

Sensitivity analyses to assess potential reverse causation and differential cohort or temporal diagnosis biases were undertaken.

Yeah. "Not that I don't trust you, but I'd like to see that . . ."

The study was done a few years ago, it probably got all the attention it deserved.

 

[6miths]

Hopefully the actual cause will be what the early retiree DOES in retirement. There was another study I read today that showed a correlation between depression and then the onset of Alzheimers. Maybe if you decrease your daily activity, stop doing anything that challenges your brain, eat more, start feeling useless b/c no job to go to, it will mess up your health and indeed make Alzheimer's more likely.

On the other hand, slowly becoming more forgetful, occasionally disoriented, and having reduced judgement in the early stages might be a bit depressing...

Also as pointed out above, these same traits would lead to early retirement. I agree with many of my MD colleagues that it becomes harder and harder to be a good doctor as one ages due to increasing physical and mental limitations - especially in the surgical and critical care areas. This certainly was one of the considerations when I retired. (As far as I know, no Alzheimer's yet!)

Correlation v causation and also the human mind's powerful ability to see patterns where there is in fact only randomness.

 

[marko]

Is this one of those "Trailer parks attract tornadoes!!" reports?

My mom always had a belief that fog helped melt the snow; it never occurred to her that the melting snow caused the fog.

 

[Fedup]

Too late!


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[Walt34]

I am willing to take the gamble...

Same here. Too late anyway so the die is cast.

 

[ls99]

I am sure there was a reason I retired relatively early, forgotten he specifics, the year, where did I work..........

 

[audreyh1]

OK - I'm still trying to get my head around working until age 85. What kind of a sample did they have to test their theory?!!!

 

[photoguy]

I haven't found the original study, but there's a little more information here: http://www.alzheimersanddementia.com/article/S1552-5260(13)00358-0/fulltext#sec3

It says:

Yeah. "Not that I don't trust you, but I'd like to see that . . ."

The study was done a few years ago, it probably got all the attention it deserved.

I think this is the final published version:

http://www.ilcfrance.org/realisations/docs/2014/RSI_retirement_and_dementia_2014.pdf

 

[samclem]

I think this is the final published version:

http://www.ilcfrance.org/realisations/docs/2014/RSI_retirement_and_dementia_2014.pdf

Thanks very much. I didn't find it convincing at all. At least they were honest enough to cite the other studies that came to different conclusions, and they noted the limitations of their data, and that they couldn't determine if there was any causative link--before they posited such a link and said how important this is.

 

[HFWR]

W*rking longer may have reduced the risk of Alzheimers, but would have greatly increased the risk of insanity...

 

[Sunset]

OK - I'm still trying to get my head around working until age 85. What kind of a sample did they have to test their theory?!!!

Not too many by age 85, but none of them had Alzheimers so they realized they had found the cure, at least that's what the boss said

 

[explanade]

I don't think the study said anything about age 85. Another doctor who had no part in doing the study took the conclusion about delaying retirement every year reduced chances for Alzheimer's by 3% to posit delaying retirement for 20 years, or working until 85, to reduce the chances of getting Alzheimer's by 60%.

 

[HadEnuff]

Well...let's see...if I continue working until 85 I'll be fully aware of how miserable I am.

Sounds like a bad deal to me.

 

[iac1003]

Offset by the stress and PTSD of continuing to work until age 85.

I just can't imagine it.


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[ziggy29]

It's similar to the studies that show that early retirement and earlier deaths have some correlation. Correlation is not causation, and maybe, just maybe, a lot of people "retire" before age 65 because they become ill and frail before 65, or die before 65?

In this case, sure, maybe if you w*rk longer you will have to keep your mind engaged with w*rk stuff for longer, but the rest of your body will be damaged by too much physical labor and/or too much work-related stress.

 

[Dash man]

But consider if....wait....lost my train of thought. What was this discussion about? Oh yeah, need more coffee.


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[NW-Bound]

Yes. I guess there's no reason to think that people with dementia just might retire earlier for that reason.

Hmmm... At megacorp, I thought I saw some not demented but senile people still hanging on to their job.