Having an underpaid job could increase your risk of dementia, a study says

That wage problems in the workplace affect the mental health to varying degrees it is an open truth. But new research goes further with one conclusion: spend at least a decade a low-paying job could carry an increased risk of dementia.

Scientists of the Columbia University in New York (USA) found that people with low-income careers experience a cognitive impairment faster, which is often a warning of “insanity”.

Work, salary and dementia

The study compared income of nearly 2,900 adults during their 50s with the way his brain has aged over time in the countryside.

People who were paid less than two-thirds of the average salary suffered a memory loss more quickly compared to his colleagues with a much better salary.

Such jobs would pay around $ 27,000 in the United States, local media data and reports suggest.

It is enough to start to do the math in each country to be sure that in the face of an even lower average salary, the consequences could be more complex. Of course, in the case of the transfer of results rather than experiences, as there are many factors that come into play.

What jobs were targeted

The works that remained in the eye of the storm from the study in the United States and shared in other latitudes such as the United Kingdom are janitors, fast food workers and teaching assistantsreports the Daily mail.

About 6 million people are believed to be living with dementia in the country led by Joe Biden, with rates expected to increase as the population ages, charities say.

How the study was conducted and results

The study, published in American Journal of Epidemiologyanalyzed the wages earned by nearly 3,000 people between 1992 and 2004.

All the participants, who they were 50 when the project started, they were divided into three groups based on their income: those who always earned low pay during the period, those who did sometimes and those who never.

The researchers then used memory test to examine how quickly their brain velocity slowed between 2004 and 2016.

The results showed that those with steady low wages during the peak of their careers had a significantly faster cognitive decline in subsequent years.

Those with the lowest wages over the 12-year period saw a 10% greater decline than those with the highest wages.

According to experts’ calculation, it was the it is equivalent to aging the brain about a year more over the course of a decade.

Beware of other factors

The doctor Katrina Kezios, lead scientist of the studysaid: “Prolonged exposure to low wages during peak earning years is associated with accelerated memory decline later in life.”

In any case, strictly speaking, the study did not describe the reasons because low wages are linked to cognitive decline, which leads to loss of memory, language and problem-solving skills. Severe cognitive impairment causes dementia.

But another indirect advantage has arisen to take into account, and that is that people with low wages live less healthy lives. This implies, although not definitively, an improper diet, smoking and excessive alcohol consumption.

People with lower incomes also tend to have worsening cardiovascular health and high rates of diabeteswhich are other risk factors for dementia, expands the British medium.

Our findings suggest that social policies that improve the financial well-being of low-wage workers may be particularly beneficial for cognitive health. lead author, Dr. Adina Zeki Al Hazzouri.

And he pointed out to note: “Future work should rigorously examine the number of dementia cases and excess years of cognitive aging that could be prevented in several hypothetical scenarios that would increase the minimum hourly wage.”