Often, women with small children face a difficult choice - to go to work, develop in a personal plan and earn money, or to be close to their child and do housework. Of course, employment entails economic benefits for the whole family, but many mothers never cease to be tormented by guilt. Drop all doubt. There is great news for working women. It turns out, as scientists have found on the basis of numerous studies, that a stable paid job brings tremendous benefits to health and, in particular, brain activity.
Alzheimer's Disease Prevention
According to studies, the memory of women who have paid work is much better than those of women who are engaged only in housekeeping. But the most important thing is that the risks of getting Alzheimer's disease in old age are significantly reduced among the fair sex, who continued to work until very old age.
It is known that the disease is insidious and incurable. In addition, most often it develops in women. Therefore, in order to avoid negative consequences, it is necessary to go to work.
Where is the data from
The findings are based on the results of a study conducted by a team of scientists from the San Diego School of Medicine (University of California). The employment, marital status, and maternity status of women born between 1935 and 1956 were analyzed. As a result, it was revealed that those who had paid work had the strongest memory, unlike those who did not.
Study Details
The authors of the study emphasized that the acuity of memory of women aged 60 to 70 years, married, having children and never having a paid job, decreases by 61% faster than their colleagues who have one. Similarly, the memory of single mothers who did not have paid work declined 83% faster.
Why it happens?
Some scientists are puzzled why this is happening. The authors of the study explained that paid work combines several factors, such as:
- mental stimulation;
- economic benefit;
- social involvement.
As a result, cognitive health is greatly improved. That is why Elizabeth Rose Mayeda, lead author of this project, emphasized that work can be perceived as a long-term strategy to prevent memory loss.
Medical details
Doctors are well aware that with Alzheimer's disease a person gradually loses his memory. However, women in more cases remember the words and faces of people. And there is evidence for this, supported by Swedish researchers. When examining a group of female patients with a history of Alzheimer's disease, scientists found that memory seems to come to life when it comes to face recognition. This is because the fair sex is better developed episodic memory and they have a larger vocabulary.
Will be working?
So, a woman can safely go to work and not experience remorse in front of her family. At the same time, the researchers assured that there is no specific period in life that would be crucial to have a positive effect on memory. Therefore, you can go to work even at a fairly mature age.
However, it should be understood that these studies do not mean at all that all housewives urgently need to go to work to avoid dementia.
Stimulation of mental activity
According to the results of the study, we can safely say that women who work at home and care for their children can also receive social and psychological benefits from such activities. In addition, you can always stimulate mental activity by performing tasks such as:
- solve crosswords;
- spend more time with neighbors;
- help children and grandchildren with lessons;
- to read;
- travel;
- conduct active social activities.
That is, any housewife can get great advantages over a working woman, supporting cognitive activity in various fields. In addition, children and the husband will certainly be grateful if the house always reigns in order, smells of pastries, and the woman is not mired in everyday life.