Recent Study Shows Agriculture Workers Have a Greater Chance of Having Dementia

A study in the Journals of Gerontology: Series B showed that agriculture workers are at greater risk of developing dementia, reports KHQA . University of Iowa (UI) College of Public Health researchers used data from the Health and Retirement Study to determine agriculture workers scored lower on memory, attention, and processing speed tests. Those who held long-term occupations in agriculture, forestry, and fishery had a 46 percent greater chance of having dementia. "As far as Iowans are concerned, this study is important for two reasons," said UI Professor Kanika Arora. "How to remain productive on the farm and how to maintain safety given memory loss, language problems, and other unpredictable behaviors that come with dementia." Scientists cannot directly examine the role of pesticide exposure to dementia, but previous studies on the amount of exposure to agriculture workers indicate the same test scores.