Retirement and Alzheimer's
(cognitive reserve could still be modified late in life through work)
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Quitting the world of meaningful work for a retired life of lounging around with a TV remote may seem enticing, but the physician-scientist has a word of caution: That passive lifestyle is increasingly seen by researchers as a high risk factor for Alzheimer's, a still incurable disease of the brain that causes the progressive degeneration of brain cells. It is shortly after noon Monday and a scheduled meet-and-greet -- Cummings recently took over leadership of the Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health near downtown Las Vegas -- has quickly veered from pleasantries about family to a discussion about keeping Alzheimer's at bay.Make no mistake: The 62-year-old Cummings is all about finding a way to knock out a disease that is expected to affect close to 16 million Americans by 2050, about double today's number. The highly respected Journal of Alzheimer's Disease ranks Cummings as the sixth most prolific researcher of the wretched condition that robs people of memory, noting that his hundreds of papers are regularly cited by other scientists.
Fully expecting the Ruvo Center to be a major player in the national debate on how to deal with a health care crisis that worsens daily as 77 million baby boomers head into retirement, Cummings said it is time -- actually well past time -- for the nation's top governmental leaders and public health officials to have a frank discussion about the implications of retirement and a disease where age is unquestionably a risk factor. "We have a social idea of what retirement consists of and we need to re-examine that idea," Cummings said. "The logical extension of the data we have on dementia is that a person who is still capable of working, who is mentally stimulated with a strong sense of purpose, is better off from the cognitive point of view continuing to engage in that position." In other words, retirement may well be bad for your mental health. Read more: lvrj.com
Fully expecting the Ruvo Center to be a major player in the national debate on how to deal with a health care crisis that worsens daily as 77 million baby boomers head into retirement, Cummings said it is time -- actually well past time -- for the nation's top governmental leaders and public health officials to have a frank discussion about the implications of retirement and a disease where age is unquestionably a risk factor. "We have a social idea of what retirement consists of and we need to re-examine that idea," Cummings said. "The logical extension of the data we have on dementia is that a person who is still capable of working, who is mentally stimulated with a strong sense of purpose, is better off from the cognitive point of view continuing to engage in that position." In other words, retirement may well be bad for your mental health. Read more: lvrj.com
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