Taxi Drivers Offer a Clue to Lowering Alzheimer's Risk (the-independent.com) 32
An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Independent: The two professions associated with the lowest levels of death due to Alzheimer's disease may be surprising. Taxi and ambulance drivers were found to have the lowest proportion of deaths of more than 440 occupations that were considered in a new observation-based study from Massachusetts physicians. Alzheimer's disease is a type of dementia that affects memory, thinking, and behavior. It impacts millions of Americans and is one of the top 10 causes of death in the US.
While the study's findings cannot confirm a direct link between the professions and reduced risk, its researchers said they raise the possibility that memory-intensive driving occupations could be associated with some protection. "We view these findings not as conclusive, but as hypothesis-generating," they said, noting that no resolute conclusions can be drawn about cause and effect. The jobs require frequent spatial and navigational processing: the ability to sense and incorporate information about the location of objects around them. Although, the trend was not seen in other related jobs, like driving a bus or piloting an aircraft. It was also not seen in other forms of dementia, which suggests changes in the hippocampus region of the brain -- which is used for spatial memory and navigation -- may account for the reduction.
The hippocampus, located deep within the brain, has been shown to be enhanced in London taxi drivers compared to the general population. The region is also one of the parts of the brain involved in the development of Alzheimer's disease. [...] The authors acknowledged that there were limitations, including that individuals who are at higher risk of developing Alzheimer's disease may be less likely to enter driving occupations. However, they said this is unlikely because disease symptoms typically develop after working age. "Further research is necessary to definitively conclude whether the spatial cognitive work required for these occupations affects the risk of death from Alzheimer's disease and whether any cognitive activities can be potentially preventive," they said. The research has been published in the journal The BMJ.
While the study's findings cannot confirm a direct link between the professions and reduced risk, its researchers said they raise the possibility that memory-intensive driving occupations could be associated with some protection. "We view these findings not as conclusive, but as hypothesis-generating," they said, noting that no resolute conclusions can be drawn about cause and effect. The jobs require frequent spatial and navigational processing: the ability to sense and incorporate information about the location of objects around them. Although, the trend was not seen in other related jobs, like driving a bus or piloting an aircraft. It was also not seen in other forms of dementia, which suggests changes in the hippocampus region of the brain -- which is used for spatial memory and navigation -- may account for the reduction.
The hippocampus, located deep within the brain, has been shown to be enhanced in London taxi drivers compared to the general population. The region is also one of the parts of the brain involved in the development of Alzheimer's disease. [...] The authors acknowledged that there were limitations, including that individuals who are at higher risk of developing Alzheimer's disease may be less likely to enter driving occupations. However, they said this is unlikely because disease symptoms typically develop after working age. "Further research is necessary to definitively conclude whether the spatial cognitive work required for these occupations affects the risk of death from Alzheimer's disease and whether any cognitive activities can be potentially preventive," they said. The research has been published in the journal The BMJ.
Taxi Drivers who passed the knowledge should do be (Score:2)
Taxi Drivers who passed the knowledge should do better!
What conclusion? (Score:5, Insightful)
tWhile the study's findings cannot confirm a direct link between the professions and reduced risk, its researchers said they raise the possibility that memory-intensive driving occupations could be associated with some protection.
More likely people struggling with poor memory don't take those jobs and don't last very long if they do.
Re:What conclusion? (Score:5, Funny)
Bingo!
Now dress that up in a load of BS and apply for a grant.
Re: (Score:2)
So I gather that:
- having an enhanced hippocampus aids in memory and can reduce the chance of contracting Alzheimer's
- taxi-drivers have enhanced hippocampuses
So the question is: does driving a taxi enhance your hippocampus and reduce your chance of contracting Alzheimers, or does an (already) enhanced hippocampus provide an advantage for a taxi-driver, and the protection against Alzheimer's follows from that enhancement and not the driving?
I agree with you that one should presume the latter until one sees
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Correlation is not causation but it sure is a hint. -- Ed Tufte
I don't think that is really true. But tell that to the grant officers.
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I'm not sure I'm quite addressing what you said but...
I'm going on personal experience here but... I do a lot of IP networking, so for instance looking at config files for wireguard with IP addresses every second line. The day I started I had a hard time remembering them, keeping them straight, and after practice and years of staring at the damn things.. I got better at it.
Same with memoriz
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I understand what you're saying. But unless your action reduces your predisposition to Alzheimer's (which it might) then I'm not sure what the relevance is.
Re: What conclusion? (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Re:What conclusion? (Score:4, Insightful)
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So just to be clear, you're arguing that fewer taxi drivers have Alzheimer's because those exhibiting symptoms of Alzheimer's when they're learning to be a taxi driver in their 20s or 30s (or possibly teens) might fail The Knowledge.
I'm not trying to be an ass (or maybe I am) but less than 0.5% of the population exhibit any signs of Alzheimer's before 65. Trying to be generous, around 5-10% of the population ultimately get the disease (10-15% is the number you'll find dotted around the internet, such has he [alz.org]
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the study suggests being a taxi driver cuts your chance of getting Alzheimer's by two thirds:
"being a taxi driver cuts your chance of getting Alzheimer's" fallaciously assigns the attributes of the population to an individual in the population. In addition to the obvious cause/correlation problem for the populations as a whole.
What it suggests that the 171 people whose cause of death included alzheimer's is a smaller percentage in the population identified as taxi drivers than the percentage of people in the larger population. But there is zero evidence that the population of taxi drivers is r
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Re: What conclusion? (Score:2)
So if you can't do taxi well, you may have Alzheimer's?
Yah that makes sense, because taxi drivers are all at the age Alzheimer's symptoms set in and are well known for their driving proficiency because only the best drivers make the cut.
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So if you can't do taxi well, you may have Alzheimer's?
No, the converse. If you have Alzheimer's you may not do taxi well. Perhaps the real question is how did taxi drivers get chosen for comparison. And I suspect the answer is "because there was a correlation" when they mined the dataset for whatever correlations they could find.
Re: What conclusion? (Score:1)
Due to your inability to retain clear information from TFS, you should seek screening for degenerative brain disease.
We view these findings not as conclusive, but as hypothesis-generating" they said, noting that no resolute conclusions can be drawn about cause and effect.
The authors acknowledged that there were limitations, including that individuals who are at higher risk of developing Alzheimer's disease may be less likely to enter driving occupations. However, they said this is unlikely because disease symptoms typically develop after working age.
Makes sense that bus drivers and pilots wouldn't m (Score:5, Insightful)
Re: Makes sense that bus drivers and pilots wouldn (Score:3)
In an urban area? (Score:2)
Or that 'no mans land' up north? I'm guessing it was no-where. Meaning not an apples to apples comparison to any bus driver living near me.
Also it pays to realize when a single data point is an outlier. Like they'd get fired if they reported in at first. Then they had no way to ask for help easily (no reception maybe?). Then it was 4 hours later and they're all still alive so shut up with your whining...
Anyway, that's what came to mind when I saw your straw-man or whatever.
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Taxis and ambulances are often going on streets repeatedly, but they aren't specific repeated routes per se, it's varying than for pilots or especially bus drivers.
The difference is that Taxi and Ambulance drivers have hundreds of social interactions per week whereas pilots and bus drivers do not. I had a conversation with a doctor treating my father's Alzheimer's and he made the point that social interactions seem to ward of this disease more than anything else.
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Hello (Score:1)
Keep the gray matter running (Score:2)
Atrophy (Score:2)
It's like with muscles. If you don't use your brain, it rots away. Get ready for a serious spike in Alzheimer's when the TikTok generation starts aging.
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It's like with muscles. If you don't use your brain, it rots away. Get ready for a serious spike in Alzheimer's when the TikTok generation starts aging.
Given what some TikTokers are doing (both to follow the trends, and create new trends) not all of them will be aging at all....
They don't get old enough to get it (Score:3)
The average age at death for taxi drivers is around 68 years, and for ambulance drivers, it's approximately 64 years. This is lower than the average life expectancy in the U.S., which is about 77 years.
Source: https://tittlepress.com/health... [tittlepress.com]
These figures suggest that occupational hazards, including violence, road accidents, and other stress factors, contribute to the lower life expectancy of these professions compared to the general population. At the same time, their lower Alzheimer's death rates might reflect a shorter lifespan that prevents the disease's typical onset age.
Maybe they get fired before they are diagnosed? (Score:1)
Maybe professional drivers that have ti drive in cities under stress get fired before a diagnosis cam be obtained?
Seriously? (Score:2)
People who need to memorize a lot of information to be effective... seem to have less issues later in life with a memory focused illness. News at 11.
It couldn't be that people who are good at memorizing things have genes and systems in their body that make their memories, and likely brain in general, function better even late in life. At least on average.
Now go look up all the people who win awards for memorizing things in contests and the Guinness Book of World Records. You could crack the case again!