Working long hours 'puts us at higher risk of dementia'

Working long hours 'puts us at higher risk of dementia'

By FIONA MACRAE
Last updated at 12:39 AM on 25th February 2009


Clocking up the hours: Britons work some of the longest shifts in Europe

Britain's long working hours could be putting millions at risk of dementia, according to research.

Middle-age workers doing more than 55 hours a week have poorer mental skills, including short-term memory and ability to recall words, than those clocking up fewer than 41 hours, a study has found.

The stress and exhaustion of long hours could be as bad for the brain as smoking, concluded the study.

Britain has some of the longest working hours in Europe, with one in eight doing more than 48 hours a week.

Many claim to thrive on the stress and long hours of demanding jobs.

But the study of 2,214 British civil servants, published in the American Journal of Epidemiology, suggests they are underestimating the long-term damage they could be doing to their brains.

Researchers, led by Dr Marianna Virtanen from the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, tracked the civil servants from the 1980s.

Some 39 per cent worked fewer than 40 hours a week, 53 per cent between 41 to 55 hours and eight per cent more than 55.

In their early 50s, they were put through a series of brain function tests.

Those doing the most overtime recorded lower scores in two of the five key 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, said: ‘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.’

Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1154409/Working-long-hours-puts-higher-risk-dementia.html