'Demanding' jobs associated with longer dementia survival

People with demanding jobs can withstand the effects of a common form of dementia by up to three years due to ‘greater mental reserves’.

A new study, published in Neurology, the medical journal of the America Academy of Neurology, found that people with frontotemporal dementia (also known as Pick’s disease or frontal lobe dementia) – which afflicts personality, behaviour, and language while leaving memory untouched – lived for longer if they had a more intellectually demanding job.

Study author Doctor Lauren Massimo, of Pennsylvania State University, said “This study suggests that having a higher occupational level protects the brain from some of the effects of this disease, allowing people to live longer after developing the disease.”