News archive 2009

Later retirement 'delays Alzheimer's onset'

19 May 2009, PR 100/09

Scientists at the Institute of Psychiatry at King’s College London have found that keeping the brain active by working later in life reduces the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease at a younger age.



The Alzheimer’s Research Trust press release

British scientists have found that keeping the brain active by working later in life reduces the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease at a younger age.

The Institute of Psychiatry at King’s College London, funded by the Alzheimer’s Research Trust, analysed data from 1,320 people with dementia, looking at education, employment and retirement. The research, published in the International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, found no link between education or employment and dementia risk, but found those who retire later prolong their mental abilities above the threshold for dementia.
 
Professor Simon Lovestone, Scientific Adviser to the Alzheimer’s Research Trust and the paper’s co-author, said: ‘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. Much more research is needed if we are to understand how to effectively delay, or even prevent, dementia.’
 
Rebecca Wood, Chief Executive of the Alzheimer’s Research Trust, which funded the study, said: 'More people than ever retire later in life to avert financial hardship, but there may be a silver lining: lower dementia risk. Much more research into lifestyle factors is needed if we are to whittle down the £17 billion a year that dementia costs our economy.’

For more information see: http://www.iop.kcl.ac.uk/news/?id=297

Simon Lovestone is also Professor of Old Age Psychiatry at the Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London and Director of the NIHR Biomedical Research Centre for Mental Health at the South London and Maudsley NHS Trust and the Institute of Psychiatry.



Notes to editors

The Alzheimer’s Research Trust
The Alzheimer’s Research Trust is the UK’s leading research charity for dementia. They are dedicated to funding scientific studies to find ways to treat, cure or prevent Alzheimer’s disease, vascular dementia, Lewy Body disease and fronto-temporal dementia. http://www.alzheimers-research.org.uk/aboutus/


King's College London
King's College London is one of the top 25 universities in the world (Times Higher Education 2008) and the fourth oldest in England. A research-led university based in the heart of London, King's has more than 21,000 students from nearly 140 countries, and more than 5,700 employees. King's is in the second phase of a £1 billion redevelopment programme which is transforming its estate. King's has an outstanding reputation for providing world-class teaching and cutting-edge research. In the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise for British universities, 23 departments were ranked in the top quartile of British universities; over half of our academic staff work in departments that are in the top 10 per cent in the UK in their field and can thus be classed as world leading. The College is in the top seven UK universities for research earnings and has an overall annual income of nearly £450 million.

King's has a particularly distinguished reputation in the humanities, law, the sciences (including a wide range of health areas such as psychiatry, medicine and dentistry) and social sciences including international affairs. It has played a major role in many of the advances that have shaped modern life, such as the discovery of the structure of DNA and research that led to the development of radio, television, mobile phones and radar. It is the largest centre for the education of healthcare professionals in Europe; no university has more Medical Research Council Centres.

King's College London and Guy's and St Thomas', King's College Hospital and South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trusts are part of King's Health Partners. King's Health Partners Academic Health Sciences Centre (AHSC) is a pioneering global collaboration between one of the world's leading research-led universities and three of London's most successful NHS Foundation Trusts, including leading teaching hospitals and comprehensive mental health services. For more information, visit: www.kingshealthpartners.org.



Further information
Louise Pratt, Communications Officer,
Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London
Telephone: 020 7848 5378, Email: louise.pratt@iop.kcl.ac.uk

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