Stress ‘ups dementia risk’
August 17th, 2010 - 11:51 am ICT by ANIWashington, Aug 17 (ANI): A new research from the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, has found that psychological stress in middle age could lead to the development of dementia later in life.
Based on data from a study, which followed women for 35 years, this is the first research in Sweden to indicate a link between stress and dementia.
The research is based on a major population study of women from Gothenburg. A representative sample of women were examined for the first time in 1968 when aged between 38 and 60, and then re-examined in 1974, 1980, 1992 and 2000.
A question about psychological stress was included in the 1968, 1974 and 1980 surveys and was answered by 1,415 women.
“Stress was defined as a sense of irritation, tension, nervousness, anxiety, fear or sleeping problems lasting a month or more due to work, health, family or other problems,” said Lena Johansson, a researcher from the Neuropsychiatric Epidemiology Unit at the Sahlgrenska Academy’s Department of Psychiatry and Neurochemistry at the University of Gothenburg.
During the 35 years of the study, 161 of the participants developed dementia, mainly in the form of Alzheimer’s disease.
The risk of dementia was about 65 percent higher in women who reported repeated periods of stress in middle age than in those who did not. In women who reported stress in all three surveys, the risk more than doubled.
“This is the first study to show that stress in middle age can lead to dementia in old age, and confirms similar findings from studies of animals. Stress has previously been shown to increase the risk of cardiovascular diseases such as stroke, heart attack and hypertension,” said Johansson, who also refers to earlier research at the Sahlgrenska Academy showing that cardiovascular disease can lead to Alzheimer’s.
“This study could result in a better understanding of the risk factors for dementia, but our results need to be confirmed by other studies, and further research is needed in the area. Most of those who said that they were stressed did not develop dementia, so it’s not currently possible to advise people to be less stressed or warn about the dangers of high stress levels due to an increased risk of developing dementia.”
The study has been published in prestigious scientific journal Brain. (ANI)
- Mid-life stress ups Alzheimer's risk for women - Aug 17, 2010
- Today's 70-yr-olds 'smarter than their predecessors' - Oct 23, 2010
- Dementia linked to midlife weight crisis - May 03, 2011
- Novel way to identify heart disease earlier during sleep found - Apr 05, 2011
- Soon, simple blood test to tell if a women is at Alzheimer's risk - Nov 07, 2009
- Women who store waist fat likely to develop dementia - Nov 25, 2009
- Mid-aged women with high cholesterol not at risk for Alzheimer - Nov 11, 2010
- Obesity may be linked to dementia - Mar 07, 2011
- Social stress accelerates development of atherosclerosis - Dec 07, 2010
- Middle-aged women more stressed but have lower blood pressure - Jun 06, 2009
- Beer belly 'doubles dementia risk' - Nov 24, 2009
- Middle aged obesity can trigger Alzheimer's - May 03, 2011
- Education provides protection against dementia - Jun 02, 2010
- Heavy smoking doubles Alzheimer's risk - Oct 27, 2010
- Irregular heart beat plus stroke may increase dementia risk - Mar 08, 2011
Tags: cardiovascular disease, cardiovascular diseases, dementia, earlier research, epidemiology unit, gothenburg sweden, health family, heart attack, lena johansson, middle age, nervousness anxiety, neurochemistry, population study, psychological stress, representative sample, risk factors, sahlgrenska, sleeping problems, university of gothenburg, ups