Midlife Moodiness Linked to Higher Risk of Dementia
Midlife Moodiness Linked to Higher Risk of Dementia – A Swedish study of 800 women indicates “midlife neuroticism” is associated with an increased risk of developing dementia.
Everyone has days when they’re down in the dumps. But could your bad mood actually increase the probability of your developing dementia? Scientists in Sweden think so, especially for women, according to new research published in the journal, Neurology. They followed 800 women over the course of 38 years to study the association between midlife neuroticism and development of late-life dementia.
According to a report in Health Day, women who were the most anxious, jealous, and moody of all the subjects studied, had twice the risk of developing Alzheimer’s, compared to those who were easy-going. The study has far-reaching implications as women are at the heart of the Alzheimer’s crisis. Two-thirds of all Americans diagnosed with the disease are women, according to the American Alzheimer’s Association.
But it’s important to clarify that the association of a midlife neurosis and a later diagnosis of dementia is just that – an association. Scientists stress that moodiness does not necessarily trigger Alzheimer’s disease. Dr Ingmar Skoog, an suthor of the study, says the link instead lies with the stress levels of the individuals. He told Time, “It seems like the personality factor makes people more easily stressed, and if people are more easily stressed, then they have an increased risk of dementia.”
There’s also a combination factor – individuals who became easily distressed or neurotic, by the author’s definition, and who also showed signs of introversion, were the most likely to develop dementia. Lena Johansson, lead author of the study says that more research needs to be done. According to her, it remains to be seen whether neuroticism could be modified by medical treatment or through lifestyle changes. Alzheimer’s disease remains the sixth leading cause of death in the United States.
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