Kegan Marquez
A recent Harvard study suggests that your job might have more of an impact on your brain health than you'd expect, especially when it comes to developing Alzheimer's disease.
Alzheimer's disease is a progressive brain disorder that slowly destroys memory and thinking skills, and eventually, the ability to carry out even simple tasks, such as travelling without assistance or struggles with speaking and language.
It's the most common cause of dementia in the UK, mostly affecting older adults, according to the NHS; however, it can affect younger people and is referred to as 'early-onset Alzheimer's disease'.
Over time, the disease damages brain cells, leading to confusion, personality changes, and a loss of independence as your health slowly deteriorates.
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The NHS goes on to say that the exact cause of Alzheimer's disease remains unknown; however, research into possible links has been ongoing.
Harvard's latest research has explored how your career choice may impact your memory function.
Using death certificates from three years, researchers found that both taxi and ambulance drivers were less likely to die as a result of Alzheimer's disease than those working in other roles.
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The research suggests that 0.91 per cent of deaths of taxi drivers were caused by Alzheimer's disease, and 1.03 per cent were ambulance drivers.
In comparison, the research also examined the numbers for chief executives, which were a much higher 1.82 per cent, and close to the average for the general population.
Interestingly, other jobs in transportation, such as bus drivers or pilots, didn't show the same trend and had statistics much closer to the national average.
However, it was further noted that this wasn't the case in other types of dementia, largely only Alzheimer's disease.
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Both taxi and ambulance drivers rely heavily on spatial awareness and real-time decision-making, according to Harvard.
These skills are associated with the hippocampus, a key part of the brain involved in memory and navigation and one of the first areas affected by Alzheimer's disease.
This theory aligns with previous research from London, where taxi drivers who memorised the city's complex layout were found to have significantly larger hippocampi.
The idea is that regular mental challenges that stimulate this part of the brain might help protect it over time. And why does it seemingly not affect other transportation jobs? Well, the university theorises that these involve predetermined routes that often don't require a lot of on-the-spot navigation.
While the findings are intriguing, Harvard stresses that they're not proof that these jobs prevent Alzheimer's disease but rather establish a possible relationship between the two.
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They list several limiting factors, including the possibility that the information presented on the certificates may not be accurate, the potential for self-selection and pure chance, and the need for further research to understand the significance of the findings.