manual labour may increase risk of dementia: study

physical activity may take just as heavy a toll on the mind as it does on the body. a new study, conducted at the university of copenhagen, found that men who make a living working highly strenuous tasks are 55 per cent more likely to develop dementia .

“before the study, we assumed that hard physical work was associated with a higher risk of dementia,” said kirsten nabe-nielsen, the study’s lead researcher, according to science daily . “it is something other studies have tried to prove, but ours is the first to connect the two things convincingly.”

the research was conducted in conjunction with the national research centre for the working environment , a group focused on finding healthier ways to perform strenuous labour and foster safer work environments. it intends to use the findings to apply an “exercise effect” to labour intensive workplaces to ensure heavy lifting can produce positive results and not wear down the body or brain.

with more than 500,000 canadians living with dementia today and another 25,000 diagnosed with the progressive disease every year, researchers all over the world are in a race against time. with the rate at which the disease is growing, it costs over $12-billion a year to care for sufferers. one in five canadians have already experienced caring for someone affected by the disease.

recent research has focused on detecting the early warning signs of dementia, which may come in the form of apathy , and preventative measures to slow its advance, such fostering the production of a cold-shock protein that has shown promise in protecting the brain.