It sounds like a ploy to keep baby boomers in the work force longer. But a new study indicates that delaying retirement will help decrease the likelihood of getting Alzheimer’s disease or other types of dementia.
The results were presented at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference in Boston. For every year of work past retirement age, the risk of getting dementia drops by 3.2 percent, scientists at INSERM, a French government health research agency told The Associated Press.
The study looked at records of 429,000 French workers age 74 on average. They had been retired for an average of 12 years. Nearly 3 percent had developed dementia, but the risk of getting it was lower for each year of age at retirement.
More than 5 million people are living with Alzheimer’s disease in America. By 2025, the number of people at least age 65 with Alzheimer's disease is expected to hit 7.1 million.
By 2050, 13.8 million people will in the United States are expected to have Alzheimer’s disease. There is no known cause or cure for the memory robbing disease.