Dementia Risk High For Workaholics

By Staff

Friday, March 6, 2009, 12:12

Here is some news for the workaholics. A new study has revealed that working long hours could lead to Dementia. It was also found that extreme tiredness and tensions have equal damaging affects as smoking.

The study discovered that middle-aged workers who worked more than 55 hours a week have poorer mental health including short-term memory and ability to recall words, than those working fewer than 41 hours.

As reported by the Telegraph,2,214 British civil servants from 1980's were monitored by Dr Marianna Virtanen from the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health. The individuals in their early 50's were put through a series of brain function tests, reasoning and vocabulary.

The researchers said: "This study shows that long working hours may have a negative effect on cognitive performance in middle age. The link between cognitive impairment and dementia later in life is clearly established.

"The difference between employees working long hours and those working normal hours is similar in magnitude to that of smoking, a risk factor for dementia."

Professor Cary Cooper, an expert in workplace stress from Lancaster University, told the Daily Mail: "Working long hours obviously makes you very tired. If you do that on a consistent basis it's going to affect your brain function. Long hours are not just bad for health, they are also bad for your performance."

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