UK Edition
Retirement causes brain function to rapidly decline, warn scientists
Workers looking forward to enjoying a long and leisurely retirement after years of toil, may need to think again.
New research shows that brain function declines rapidly as soon as people stop work and put their feet up.
A major British study which tracked 3,400 retired civil servants found that short-term memory declines nearly 40 per cent faster once employees become pensioners.
It appears that the lack of regular stimulation takes a heavy toll on cognitive function and speeds up memory loss and dementia, researchers warned.
Professor Cary Cooper, an expert in organisational psychology at Manchester Business School, said the study confirmed previous research suggesting that if people don’t use it, they lose it.
“It makes it more likely that dementia will set in earlier,” he said.
"We know the more cognitively active you are the more it offsets the risk of dementia.
“I'm not talking about doing Sudoku but doing something completely different from your job - so if you worked in the civil service all your life, why not go and help out in a hospital or teach?
“The most important thing is to interact with people.”
Even high-ranking civil servants with mentally demanding jobs saw brain capacity plummet once they quit, the study found.
It suggests a busy and high-flying career offers no protection against cognitive decline unless pensioners keep physically and mentally active.
Around 850,000 people in Britain currently have Alzheimer's disease or dementia.
With an ageing population, this figure is forecast to reach one million by 2025 and two million by 2050.
Experts say the best way to avoid the conditions is stay active, eat a healthy diet, stop smoking and drink in moderation.
But the latest research suggests giving up work could be a major catalyst for the incurable illness in some people.
Researchers from University College London and Kings College London studied more than 3,000 civil servants taking part in a long-term health investigation, called the Whitehall II study.
Volunteers underwent regular memory tests over a 30-year period covering the final part of their careers and the early years of their retirement.
These included checks on verbal memory and the ability to recall words, as well as tests on reasoning and verbal fluency.
The results, published online in the European Journal of Epidemiology, found verbal memory - which declines naturally with age - deteriorated 38 per cent faster once volunteers had retired.
The report concluded: “Retirement accelerates the decline in verbal memory function.
“This study highlights the benefits of stimulating work activities that benefit older people's memory.”