Taxi drivers rarely die of Alzheimer's • Hacker News Board

Re: Taxi drivers rarely die of Alzheimer's

#121

Post by hotstickyballs » Sun, Aug 09, 2026, 11:39 PM UTC

harrall wrote: post #83

cortic wrote: post #30

Taxi Drivers: The mean age at death is approximately 67.8 years. General Population: in the same dataset, life expectancy averaged 74 years. The average age at which patients are typically diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease is 79. People in these jobs don't live long enough on average to get diagnosed, at the same rate. The same effect will happen in any job that lowers your life expectancy.

The study accounts for that. Delay your aging by using your brain a fuck ton, all the time, learning brand new things nowhere near anything you already know.

Collecting a bunch of covariates is never a substitute for recognizing that you can't force people to be taxi drivers for life.

Re: Taxi drivers rarely die of Alzheimer's

#122

Post by specproc » Sun, Aug 09, 2026, 11:41 PM UTC

rf15 wrote: post #77

specproc wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Studies typically use regression to account for stuff like that. CBA to look at the article, but I bet any money that's controlled for.

> CBA to look at the article then don't post

Mate, you ever read a scientific paper? You dig regression? Did you read TFA yourself? Was I wrong?

Re: Taxi drivers rarely die of Alzheimer's

#123

Post by akamaka » Sun, Aug 09, 2026, 11:43 PM UTC

I wonder if alcohol consumption plays a role here, since it is a known risk factor for Alzheimer’s. A taxi driver who works 60 hours a week will have very little time left over for drinking, whereas pilots have relatively short work hours where they actually need to be sober.

Re: Taxi drivers rarely die of Alzheimer's

#124

Post by christophilus » Sun, Aug 09, 2026, 11:51 PM UTC

cortic wrote: post #30

Taxi Drivers: The mean age at death is approximately 67.8 years. General Population: in the same dataset, life expectancy averaged 74 years. The average age at which patients are typically diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease is 79. People in these jobs don't live long enough on average to get diagnosed, at the same rate. The same effect will happen in any job that lowers your life expectancy.

Yep. Free solo climbers also rarely die of Alzheimer’s.

Re: Taxi drivers rarely die of Alzheimer's

#125

Post by samso26 » Sun, Aug 09, 2026, 11:54 PM UTC

[flagged]

Re: Taxi drivers rarely die of Alzheimer's

#126

Post by OptionOfT » Mon, Aug 10, 2026, 12:01 AM UTC

toast0 wrote: post #80

OptionOfT wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My 2019 car had the cardinal directions in the mirror (N, NE, E, ES, S etc). My 2025 does not anymore. I hate it. I think it helps to get that baseline of orientation, and then you look at the street numbers, and it all starts to come together.

Suction cup compasses are ~ $10 on amazon if it bothers you. Won't be in the mirror though.

I think I should be able to add it to the iDrive. How much did BMW save by removing it from the mirror? $0.05 / mirror?

Re: Taxi drivers rarely die of Alzheimer's

#127

Post by anonymousiam » Mon, Aug 10, 2026, 12:03 AM UTC

Could it be that the cause/effect relationship here is incorrect? Perhaps only people with the cognitive skills for complex mental maps and spatial reasoning can be effective at driving a cab, so driving a cab may not "protect" you from Alzheimer's at all, but people who have the skills to keep a job as a cab driver have a brain that is less susceptible to Alzheimer's.

Re: Taxi drivers rarely die of Alzheimer's

#128

Post by fsckboy » Mon, Aug 10, 2026, 12:09 AM UTC

cortic wrote: post #30

Taxi Drivers: The mean age at death is approximately 67.8 years. General Population: in the same dataset, life expectancy averaged 74 years. The average age at which patients are typically diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease is 79. People in these jobs don't live long enough on average to get diagnosed, at the same rate. The same effect will happen in any job that lowers your life expectancy.

>People in these jobs don't live long enough on average to get diagnosed

not to mention the other devil in these studies: some professions are statistically going to have the lowest rate of every possible disease. you can't just cherrypick outliers and declare "causal!"

Re: Taxi drivers rarely die of Alzheimer's

#129

Post by bezmi » Mon, Aug 10, 2026, 12:10 AM UTC

smt88 wrote: post #67

wilburx3 wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Getting stabbed in the neck by filthy street urchins.

Probably not smart to post something like this on the same message board you’re using to get a job

A joke?

Re: Taxi drivers rarely die of Alzheimer's

#130

Post by ch4s3 » Mon, Aug 10, 2026, 12:19 AM UTC

nephihaha wrote: post #119

cortic wrote: post #30

Taxi Drivers: The mean age at death is approximately 67.8 years. General Population: in the same dataset, life expectancy averaged 74 years. The average age at which patients are typically diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease is 79. People in these jobs don't live long enough on average to get diagnosed, at the same rate. The same effect will happen in any job that lowers your life expectancy.

>Taxi Drivers: The mean age at death is approximately 67.8 years. Where? What country/ies?

In the US, but you’d likely see a similar effect in other places. Taxi drivers are highly sedentary and occupationally exposed to a lot more road pollution than most jobs.