CABBIES are less likely to die from Alzheimer’s as driving keeps their brain sharp, a study shows.
Scientists found taxi and ambulance drivers had below-average mortality rates from the disease.
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They believe it is because mentally calculating routes keeps a vital part of the brain strong into old age.
Analysis of US death records found that cabbies’ Alzheimer’s death rate was 1.03 per cent, compared with the national average of 3.9 per cent.
And ambulance drivers had an even lower rate, at just 0.74 per cent.
Dr Anupam Jena, of Harvard University in the US, said: “Frequent navigational and spacial processing tasks may be associated with some protection.”
A previous study found that London black cab drivers have an especially powerful hippocampus — a part of the brain that helps support memory.
Too little mental stimulation is known to raise the risk of Alzheimer’s, the leading cause of dementia.
But Prof Tara Spires-Jones, of the UK Dementia Research Institute, said: “The age at death of taxi and ambulance drivers in this study was around 64 to 67 years, while for all other occupations it was 74.
“They might have gone on to develop Alzheimer’s if they lived longer.”
Ways to lower your risk of dementia
There are things you can do to reduce your own risk of developing dementia, including Alzheimer’s.
No single behaviour is guaranteed to prevent dementia – but there’s lots of evidence to suggest that making tweaks to your lifestyle choices could affect your risk.
Dementia risk is lowest in people who have healthy behaviours in mid-life – from the age of 40 to 65 – according Alzheimer’s Society.
Here are a few easy changes you can make:
- Exercise regularly to boost your heart health and circulation and help maintain a healthy weight.
- Drink less alcohol – try to have no more than 14 units of alcohol a week, about one pint of beer or a small glass of wine each day. If you regularly drink much more than this, you are increasing your risk of damage to your brain and other organs, and so increasing your risk of dementia.
- Don’t smoke – it does a lot of harm to the circulation of blood around the body, particularly the blood vessels in the brain, as well as the heart and lungs.
- Engaging in social activities to help to build up your brain’s ability to relieve stress and improve your mood – depression and social isolation have both been linked to dementia.
- Manage health conditions, such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol or diabetes, which can increase the risk of getting dementia.
- Protect your eyesight and hearing – vision loss increases a person’s risk of developing dementia. The same goes for hearing loss, which can also be an early symptom of dementia.
- Wear a helmet – as traumatic brain injuries can start a process in the brain where the substances that cause Alzheimer’s disease build up around the injured area.
Source: Alzheimer’s Society
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