Alzheimer's, Dementia & Mental Health
New
Evidence that being Laid Back Helps Lower Dementia Risk for Senior
Citizens
Dementia risk dropped 50% for people not socially
active but calm and relaxed and those who were outgoing and calm
Jan. 20, 2009 - A prestigious new study joins a
growing parade of research that indicates people who are socially active
are less likely to develop dementia in old age. This study, however,
adds a stress factor. Those active and not easily stressed seem to enjoy
an extra
barrier to dementia. It even works for those not so socially involved.
“Low neuroticism in combination with high
extraversion is the personality trait associated with the
lowest dementia risk,” the researchers say, “however, among
socially isolated individuals even low neuroticism alone
seems to decrease dementia risk.”
It is estimated that one in seven Americans aged 71
and older has some form of dementia. The number of Americans nearing
that age is expected to double by the year 2030.
This study involved 506 older people who did not
have dementia when first examined. The group was given questionnaires
about their personality traits and lifestyle.
The personality questions identified people with
different degrees of neuroticism, a term meaning easily distressed. The
questions also measured extraversion, or openness to talking to people.
Those who were not easily distressed were calm and self-satisfied,
whereas people who were easily distressed were emotionally unstable,
negative and nervous.
Outgoing people scored high on the extraversion
scale and were socially active and optimistic compared to people with
low extraversion that were reserved and introspective.
The lifestyle questionnaire determined how often
each person regularly participated in leisure or organizational
activities and the richness of their social network. Participants were
followed for six years. During that time, 144 developed dementia.
The study found that people who were not socially
active but calm and relaxed had a 50 percent lower risk of developing
dementia compared with people who were isolated and prone to distress.
The dementia risk was also 50 percent lower for people who were outgoing
and calm compared to those who were outgoing and prone to distress.
“In the past, studies have shown that chronic
distress can affect parts of the brain, such as the hippocampus,
possibly leading to dementia, but our findings suggest that having a
calm and outgoing personality in combination with a socially active
lifestyle may decrease the risk of developing dementia even further,”
says study author Hui-Xin Wang, PhD, with the Karolinska Institute in
Stockholm, Sweden.
“The good news is, lifestyle factors can be
modified as opposed to genetic factors which cannot be controlled. But
these are early results, so how exactly mental attitude influences risk
for dementia is not clear,” said Wang.
The research is published in the January 20, 2009,
print issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American
Academy of Neurology.
The study was supported by the Swedish Council for
Working Life and Social Research, the Alzheimer Foundation Sweden, the
Swedish Brain Power, Swedish Research Council, Gamla Tjänarinnor
Foundation, Fredrik and Ingrid Thurings Foundation, the Foundation for
Geriatric Diseases and Loo and Hans Osterman Foundation for Geriatric
Research at Karolinska Institute, and the Center for Health Care Science
at Karolinska Institute.
The American Academy of Neurology, an association
of more than 21,000 neurologists and neuroscience professionals, is
dedicated to promoting the highest quality patient-centered neurologic
care. A neurologist is a doctor with specialized training in diagnosing,
treating and managing disorders of the brain and nervous system such as
Parkinson’s disease, ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease), dementia, West Nile
virus, and ataxia.
For more information about the American Academy of
Neurology, visit
www.aan.com.
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