Health: Manual labourers are 55 per cent more likely to develop dementia than office workers - Daily Mail

Manual labourers — such as brick layers, road diggers and factory workers — have a 55 per cent higher risk of developing dementia than office works, a study found. .

Exercise was previously thought to lower the risk of developing dementia, but the results indicate that the type of activity is important in securing the benefits.

Manual labourers — such as brick layers (pictured), road diggers and factory workers — have a 55 per cent higher risk of developing dementia than office works, a study has found.

'Before the study we assumed hard physical work was associated with a higher risk of dementia,' explained paper author and public health expert Kirsten Nabe-Nielsen of the University of Copenhagen.

Furthermore, the World Health Organisation (WHO) also lists physical activity as an important factor in staving off the condition.

'But our study suggests it must be a ‘good’ form of physical activity, which hard physical work is not,' said Professor Nabe-Nielsen.

'Guides from the health authorities should therefore differentiate between physical activity in your spare time and physical activity at work — as there is reason to believe the two forms of physical activity have opposite effects.'.

The findings indicated that manual labour was associated with a 55 per cent higher risk of developing dementia than undertaking sedentary forms of work.

Researchers from Denmark found that physical work wears down the brain — as well as the heart, muscles and joints — because it's the 'wrong sort' of exertion.

Exercise was previously thought to lower the risk of developing dementia, but the results indicate that the type of activity is important in securing the benefits.

Professor Nabe-Nielsen said that studies have suggested that hard physical work reduces blood circulation — cutting down the oxygen supply to the brain.

With their initial study complete, the team are continuing to assess their results — with a view to identifying healthier ways of doing physical labour.

In the UK, more than 850,000 people are living with dementia, a figure set to rise to 2 million by the year 2050.

The Alzheimer’s Society reports there are more than 850,000 people living with dementia in the UK today, of which more than 500,000 have Alzheimer's.

It is estimated that the number of people living with dementia in the UK by 2025 will rise to over 1 million

As a person’s age increases, so does the risk of them developing dementia