Working long hours could harm brain function
POSTED February 26, 2009 - 13:25 | POSTED BY Chanchal S. Suri
Last edited by Shikha Patial on February 26, 2009 - 14:33
Finland February 26: A new study found that working long hours affects the brain function and also increases the risk of developing dementia.
The researchers suggest that working overtime causes sleeping problem, stress and depressiondefine. These problems directly link with brain’s ability to process information.
The lead researcher of the study, Dr Marianna Virtanen from the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health and colleagues analyzed 2,214 middle-aged British civil servants. During the research, the participants have undergone through a series of five brain function tests.
The researchers found that the employees doing the excessive work recorded lower scores in the tests for assessing reasoning and vocabulary than those working for normal hours.
The researchers revealed that the employees who worked more than 55 hours a week had poorer mental skills than those worked for normal time of about 40 hours. Many problems such as short-term memory, less sleeping hours, inability to recall words, depression have been found in the employees doing excessive work. ‘Employees with long working hours also used more alcohol than those with normal working hours.’
The researchers said: "This study shows that long working hours may have a negative effect on cognitive performance in middle age. The link between cognitive impairment and dementia later in life is clearly established.
"The difference between employees working long hours and those working normal hours is similar in magnitude to that of smoking, a risk factor for dementia."
Professor Cary Cooper, an expert in workplace stress from Lancaster University said that working long hours obviously makes people tired and if it is consistent it will affect the brain function. Excessive work is not only bad for health but also for the performance.
Professor Cooper said, "This should say to employers that insisting people work long hours is actually not good for your business, and that there is a business case for making sure people have a good work-life balance."
The study is published in the American Journal of Epidemiology.
