Tag: Blue Collar

Physical stress leads to cognitive decline later(Repost)

Posted on by Karac Avalron

Cognitive decline is no joke, many of us have someone in their life or know someone by extension who has or is dealing with someone with a mental illness in later life. Imagine for a moment not remembering the people you love? I’ve had some personal experience with someone in my family who had Alzheimer’s. It was devastating for the immediate family (it was my aunt) and it was just very sad.

I found a good article here about how physical stress can lead to cognitive decline.

From the article: “The research team studied 99 adults between the ages of 60 and 79 who were cognitively healthy – clear of psychiatric and neurologic illness, plus no history of stroke; transient ischemic attack, also known as a “mini-stroke”; or head trauma. By using brain images of the participants and an occupational survey about their most recent job, the researchers found that those who reported high levels of physical stress on the job had a smaller hippocampus – the region of the brain associated with memory – and performed worse on memory-related tasks. Examples of physically demanding work included excessive reaching or lifting of boxes onto shelves.”

No matter what job you do, sleep is critical !

Now this is by no means an extensive study but it still very telling. Those with “physical stress” had a smaller hippocampus. This can be associated with many jobs what we in the west traditionally call “blue collar” jobs. FedEx delivery, Coal Miners, Landscapers, Roofers on and on. The article talks about how stress accelerates the aging process, we knew that.

We now know through this limited study that physical stress can also accelerate the aging process. I don’t think this is a revelation to most but the association of physical stress at work to a decreased hippocampus later in life is very revealing. Some people work hard all their lives to enjoy retirement and a year or two in health problems start to appear.

Hard work is good for the soul, it gives you a sense of accomplishment and there is a certain satisfaction to it. When I was young I worked on my grandparent’s farm, we worked hard every day and by night fall I was out. The food tasted better, breaks were more enjoyable, and sleep was pure.

For those of you out there busting your hump in a physically demanding job make sure you are taking care of your body and mind. Adequate rest is critical and if you are “feeling it” get help ASAP. There is no shame in asking for help if you feel stress or anxiety.

You are doing awesome, one day at a time. 

Want to see more posts like this? Check this out !

Leif Erikson

How to be a better man – Learn a trade

Posted on by Karac Avalron

This is a quick post today. Not because the wisdom is lesser but the information is fairly straight forward. For the last 50 years’ western society has created a narrative that to be successful professionally you must engage in the most expensive route to get there. That means college, and for millions that means student loan debt. A space once dominated by men, now more women are in college than ever before, and racking up massive debt as a result.

We now have more female doctors, pilots, engineers on and on and that’s great. For men? Trades are still wide open. Less and less people go into trades now than in the past. Females? Even less they have been marketed for the need for education for their success. Of course a woman can put an addition on a house just as well as a man can with equal training and experience but you don’t see high school guidance counselors telling them that do you?

As a man, learn a trade. Sure a lot of it is blue collar work but all these in debt college educated professionals are going to be busy working 60 hours a week to pay back their 100K of student loans. They don’t have time to rake the leaves, repair a deck, install cabinets. You’ll make a boat load of cash, have minimal expense to enter the profession and should you desire in the future you can go to college then, and pay cash for it.

Being a better man means looking at life in the short, mid and long term. College is a great option and I would never tell anyone not to go. I went and have made a great living as a result but there are other paths out there. Always gather as much info as you can, never rely on one source of info for your decision making. Last, but not least…. Look around, who is in demand? Plumbers or Doctors? Lots of doctors out there, have you ever met or seen a plumber?

Thank you for coming by and supporting my blog I really appreciate it. Want to see more posts like this one? Click here.

Physical stress leads to cognitive decline later

Posted on by Karac Avalron

Cognitive decline is no joke, many of us have someone in their life or know someone by extension who has or is dealing with someone with a mental illness in later life. Imagine for a moment not remembering the people you love? I’ve had some personal experience with someone in my family who had Alzheimer’s. It was devastating for the immediate family (it was my aunt) and it was just very sad.

I found a good article here about how physical stress can lead to cognitive decline.

From the article: “The research team studied 99 adults between the ages of 60 and 79 who were cognitively healthy – clear of psychiatric and neurologic illness, plus no history of stroke; transient ischemic attack, also known as a “mini-stroke”; or head trauma. By using brain images of the participants and an occupational survey about their most recent job, the researchers found that those who reported high levels of physical stress on the job had a smaller hippocampus – the region of the brain associated with memory – and performed worse on memory-related tasks. Examples of physically demanding work included excessive reaching or lifting of boxes onto shelves.”

No matter what job you do, sleep is critical !

Now this is by no means an extensive study but it still very telling. Those with “physical stress” had a smaller hippocampus. This can be associated with many jobs what we in the west traditionally call “blue collar” jobs. FedEx delivery, Coal Miners, Landscapers, Roofers on and on. The article talks about how stress accelerates the aging process, we knew that.

We now know through this limited study that physical stress can also accelerate the aging process. I don’t think this is a revelation to most but the association of physical stress at work to a decreased hippocampus later in life is very revealing. Some people work hard all their lives to enjoy retirement and a year or two in health problems start to appear.

Hard work is good for the soul, it gives you a sense of accomplishment and there is a certain satisfaction to it. When I was young I worked on my grandparent’s farm, we worked hard every day and by night fall I was out. The food tasted better, breaks were more enjoyable, and sleep was pure.

For those of you out there busting your hump in a physically demanding job make sure you are taking care of your body and mind. Adequate rest is critical and if you are “feeling it” get help ASAP. There is no shame in asking for help if you feel stress or anxiety.

You are doing awesome, one day at a time. 

Want to see more posts like this? Check this out !