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REAL LIFE NEWS: WORKING TOO HARD CAUSES DEMENTIA

by Hazed

Yet another reason to stay in bed and not go into work... a study has concluded that working long hours may make it more likely you will get dementia.

The Finnish-led study, which looked at 2,214 middle-aged British civil servants, found that those who worked more than 55 hours a week had poorer mental skills than those who worked a standard working week.

The study, which was published in the American Journal of Epidemiology, found that hard workers had problems with short-term memory and word recall. Dr Marianna Virtaten from the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, who was the lead researcher, said, "The disadvantages of overtime work should be taken seriously." No kidding!

The workers in the study were given five different tests of their mental function. They were tested twice, once between 1997 and 1999, and then again between 2002 and 2004. Those who were doing the most overtime recorded lower scores in the two tests that measured reasoning and vocabulary. The effects were cumulative, and the longer the working week was, the worse the test results were.

So why does working overtime have such an effect? The researchers suggest that key factors could include sleeping problems, depression, an unhealthy lifestyle and a raised risk of cardiovascular disease, possibly linked to stress.

On the other hand, they could just be so tired that they can't concentrate on the tests they were given!

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