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Forgoing early retirement and working in a person’s later years may help build cognitive skills and critical thinking, according to a new study.
Researchers at the German Max Planck Society for the Advancement of Science have found that working until age 67, when most Americans retire, slows their cognitive decline and can help fight diseases such as dementia. ‘Alzheimer’s and other diseases that can negatively impact a person’s cognitive functions.
Remarkably, the results show that a person will gain from working longer, regardless of their gender, level of education or the level of complexity of their work.
“Our study suggests that there may be an unintended unintended consequence of postponing retirement,” study co-author Angelo Lorenti said in a statement.
Lorenti continued, “In this study, we approach retirement and cognitive function from the perspective that they both come at the end of a long life path.
Working past retirement age could help fight cognitive decline, new study finds
The researchers found that people with more complex jobs saw a slightly slower decline than those with less complex jobs.
Remarkably, the results show that a person will benefit from working longer, regardless of their gender, level of education or the level of complexity of their work.
“… Ethnicity, gender, and social and economic status early in life go hand in hand with educational and work performance and health behaviors, and extend to more closely related factors such as as partner status and mental and physical health, ”study co-author Angelo Lorenti said
Researchers found that people with more complex jobs saw a slower decline than those with less complex jobs
“It starts with a person’s social background in terms of ethnicity, gender, and social and economic status early in life, continues with educational and work performance and health behaviors, and goes up to closer factors such as partnership status and mental and physical health.
“All of these types of factors accumulate and interact throughout life to affect both cognitive function and retirement age.”
A separate study by researchers at Georgetown University Medical Center recently found that certain mental skills, including multitasking and prioritization, improve after the age of 50.
The researchers looked at the observations of 20,469 people aged 55 to 75 who were in the U.S. workforce between 1996 and 2014.
Lorenti added that there was no change between social and labor market dynamics, adding that many countries around the world have increased the retirement age.
The concern is with the aging of the world’s population, as rates of dementia tend to increase as people recover.
According to the Alzheimer’s Association, more than 6 million Americans have Alzheimer’s disease and that number is expected to rise to 13 million by 2050.
Globally, that number is at least 50 million and could exceed 150 million by 2050 if breakthroughs are not discovered, according to Bright Focus.
“This is why it is relevant to understand whether retirement at an advanced age can have consequences on health, in particular on cognitive functions”, explained Lorenti.
The US Census Bureau predicts that by 2035 there will be 77 million Americans 65 and older, surpassing 76.5 million children 18 and under.
Germany, Italy, France, Spain and other European countries already have older populations, while in Japan, considered to be an old society, more than one in four people are 65 or more.
The study was recently published in SSM – Population Health.
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