Don’t Want To Be A Batty Old Fart? Don’t Retire…

Experts from Britain’s King’s College London analyzed data from more than 1,300 people with dementia, considering factors including education, employment and retirement, and determined that working a few years beyond retirement could help stave off Alzheimer’s disease, according to MSNBC.com. Researchers found that people who retired later were able to avoid the mind-robbing Alzheimer’s disease longer than people who retired earlier. Each extra year of work was associated with approximately a six-week delay in the onset of dementia.

“The intellectual stimulation that older people gain from the workplace may prevent a decline in mental abilities, thus keeping people above the threshold for dementia for longer,” said Simon Lovestone, one of the paper’s coauthors.

Previous studies have suggested more education may lower dementia risk. Other experts said more research was needed to confirm the study’s findings.