Dementia - PsyBlog

This Personality Trait Preserves Memory And Judgement

The best mindset to ward off cognitive decline can be cultivated using exercises such as visualising your best possible self.

Older adults with a more optimistic outlook experience fewer memory and judgement problems, research finds.

Optimism has also been linked to desirable health behaviours like:

Eating more healthily.
Exercising regularly.
Lower risk of heart conditions and stroke.

For the study, researchers followed around 500 older adults over four years to see if they experienced any cognitive impairments.

The results showed that the best mindset was optimism, which was linked to a lower risk of developing cognitive impairment.

Ms Katerina Gawronski, the study’s first author, said:

“We felt like this was an important topic to investigate and to our knowledge, it’s the first study to examine the link between optimism and cognitive impairment in older adults.

We found that optimism was indeed associated with better cognitive health over time.”

Best mindset can be learned

The good news is that optimism is not fixed in stone.

Exercises such as visualising your ‘best possible self‘ have been shown to increase optimism.

Here is how I’ve previously explained the exercise:

Visualising your best possible self may sound like an exercise in fantasy but, crucially, it does have to be realistic.

Carrying out this exercise typically involves imagining your life in the future, but a future where everything that could go well, has gone well.

You have reached those realistic goals that you have set for yourself.

Then, to help cement your visualisation, you commit your best possible self to paper.

This exercise draws on the proven benefits of expressive writing.

Dr Eric Kim, a study co-author, said:

“Therefore, optimism may be a novel and promising target for prevention and intervention strategies aimed at improving cognitive health.”

The study was published in the journal Psychosomatic Medicine (Gawronski et al., 2016).

This Change In Personality Indicates Dementia

Older people given personality tests were followed for many years to see who developed dementia.

Increases in the personality trait of neuroticism are a sign that someone will go on to develop dementia, research finds.

Neuroticism is a personality trait that is strongly linked to anxiety, sadness, irritability and self-consciousness.

People higher in neuroticism find it harder to deal with stress and tend to see threats everywhere.

The conclusions come from analysis of data from almost two thousand people in the US and the Netherlands.

Older people given personality tests were followed for many years to see who developed dementia.

The study’s authors explain:

“These findings provide reliable evidence of a consistent pattern of neuroticism increases preceding dementia diagnosis, and, further, suggest that change in neuroticism may occur early in the disease process.

Additionally, these results indicate that individuals who remain undiagnosed have markedly different trajectories of neuroticism compared to individuals not diagnosed with incident dementia or MCI [mild cognitive impairment].”

Along with increasing neuroticism, the researchers also found that people who went on to be diagnosed with dementia also saw decreases in extraversion.

They write:

“Assessments of extraversion, conscientiousness, openness and agreeableness were also available…

Our analyses revealed significant decreases in extraversion only, and solely for individuals with MCI [mild cognitive impairment].

These results may indicate that individuals with MCI might feel more cognitively challenged in the presence of others, possibly leading to avoidance of social activity.”

The study was published in the The Journals of Gerontology (Yoneda et al., 2018).

Mild Cognitive Impairment: One Thing Makes You 81% More Likely To Recover (M)

The factor that makes you 81 percent more likely to recover from mild cognitive impairment.

Keep reading with a Membership

• Read members-only articles
• Adverts removed
• Cancel at any time
• 14 day money-back guarantee for new members

Become a member

This View Of Dementia Helps Sufferers Feel More Positive (M)

Research examines whether the diagnostic label of ‘dementia’ really helps people.

Research examines whether the diagnostic label of 'dementia' really helps people.

Keep reading with a Membership

• Read members-only articles
• Adverts removed
• Cancel at any time
• 14 day money-back guarantee for new members

Become a member

Many Antidepressants Tied To Higher Dementia Risk, Large Study Finds

Safer alternatives should be considered by doctors, the researchers advise.

Antidepressants that have an anticholinergic effect are linked to an increased risk of dementia, research finds.

Anticholinergic antidepressants include drugs such as Amitriptyline (known as Elavil), Dosulepin and Paroxetine (known as Paxil and Seroxat).

(A longer list of drugs is at the bottom of this article.)

Although often older, many millions of people still take these type of antidepressants.

The longer people take these drugs, the researchers found, the higher their risk of dementia.

More modern antidepressants, like Prozac and Xanax, generally have a lower anticholinergic effect, and were not linked to a higher dementia risk.

Dr George Savva, who led the study, said:

“We studied patients with a new dementia diagnosis and looked at what anticholinergic medication they were prescribed between four and 20 years prior to being diagnosed.

We found that people who had been diagnosed with dementia were up to 30 per cent more likely to have been prescribed specific classes of anticholinergic medications.

And the association with dementia increases with greater exposure to these types of medication.

What we don’t know for sure is whether the medication is the cause.

It could be that these medications are being prescribed for very early symptoms indicating the onset of dementia.

But because our research shows that the link goes back up to 15 or 20 years before someone is eventually diagnosed with dementia, it suggests that reverse causation, or confounding with early dementia symptoms, probably isn’t the case.

The conclusions come from the medical records of 40,770 patients aged over 65 who were diagnosed with dementia.

These were compared to 283,933 without dementia.

The results showed the link between dementia and anticholinergic drugs.

Other common anticholinergic drugs also linked to dementia include those prescribed for bladder conditions and Parkinson’s (e.g. Tolterodine, Oxybutynin, Solifenacin and Procyclidine).

No link, though, was found between antihistamines (used to treat allergies) and dementia, as previous research had.

Dr Noll Campbell, study co-author, said:

“These results suggest we should prioritise safer alternatives to anticholinergic medications long before symptoms of dementia are recognised.”

Professor Chris Fox, study co-author, said:

“Doctors and patients should therefore be vigilant about using anticholinergic medications.

They need to consider the risk of long-term cognitive effects, as well as short-term effects, associated with specific drugs when weighing up risks and benefits.

We don’t know exactly how anticholinergics might cause dementia.

Further research is needed to understand possible reasons for this link.

In the meantime, I strongly advise patients with any concerns to continue taking their medicines until they have consulted their doctor or pharmacist.”

Here are some common drugs that have a definite anticholinergic effect:

Amitriptylline
Brompheniramine
Chlorpheniramine
Clomipramine
Clozapine
Dimenhydrinate
Diphenhydramine
Hydroxyzine
Paroxetine
Promethazine

These drugs also have an anticholinergic effect, although it is lower than the list above:

Amantadine
Belladona
Cyclobenzaprine
Cyproheptadine
Carbamazepine
Loxapine
Meperidine
Molindone
Oxcarbazine
Pimozide

These drugs may have an anticholinergic effect:

Alprazolam
Atenolol
Captopril
Codeine
Diazepam
Digoxin
Furosemide
Prednisone
Nifedipine
Warfarin

Note that this is not a complete list of drugs and it only contains the drug names not the brand names under which each is sold.

The study was published in the journal BMJ (Richardson et al., 2018).

The Vitamin Deficiency That May Double Cognitive Decline Risk

Those in the study with lower vitamin levels at the start were at double the risk of significant cognitive decline.

Low vitamin D levels increase the risk of cognitive decline and impairment among the elderly, research suggests.

Those in the study with lower vitamin D levels at the start were at double the risk of significant cognitive decline.

Older people with low vitamin D levels were also at two to three times the risk of going on to develop cognitive impairment later on.

Vitamin D is primarily produced in the body by the action of sunlight on the skin.

Vitamin D is important in maintaining healthy bones and muscles, as well as brain function.

It may be that vitamin D protects against neuron damage and loss.

Other studies have also linked low vitamin D levels to an increased risk of cardiovascular disease and neurodegenerative problems, such as dementia.

The conclusions come from a study of over 1,000 people in China over the age of 60.

Their vitamin D levels and cognitive abilities were assessed over two years.

The study’s authors write:

“In conclusion, our longitudinal study indicates that low 25(OH)D₃ [vitamin D] levels are associated with subsequent cognitive decline and cognitive impairment.

Despite the lack of conclusive results from intervention studies, the weight of this and other epidemiological studies reinforce the importance of more intensive investigation on the effects of vitamin D supplements on cognitive decline.”

The study found the same link between low vitamin D levels and cognitive impairment regardless of age and gender.

Professor David Matchar, the study’s first author, said:

“Although this study was conducted on subjects from China, the results are applicable to regions in Asia where a large proportion of the elderly are ethnically Chinese, like Singapore.”

Getting enough vitamin D

During the darker months, taking 10 mcg of a vitamin D supplement is often recommended.

Another option is to ensure that your diet has enough vitamin D in it.

Foods that contain relatively high amounts of vitamin D include sardines, salmon, mackerel and herring.

Other foods high in vitamin D include egg yolks, liver, mushrooms and red meat.

Cereals and spreads are also typically fortified with vitamin D.

The study was published in The Journals of Gerontology Series A: Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences (Matchar et al., 2022).

The ‘Flavodiet’ Could Slash Your Dementia Risk By 30% (M)

A study reveals how six simple food additions could dramatically lower your dementia risk.

Keep reading with a Membership

• Read members-only articles
• Adverts removed
• Cancel at any time
• 14 day money-back guarantee for new members

Become a member

How Light Pollution Could Be Affecting Your Brain Health (M)

A study reveals the hidden dangers of night time light pollution for brain health.

Keep reading with a Membership

• Read members-only articles
• Adverts removed
• Cancel at any time
• 14 day money-back guarantee for new members

Become a member

The Activity That Cuts Dementia Risk By 90%

Study of women over 50 suggests how to cut dementia risk by 90 percent.

Being physically fit in middle age reduces the risk of developing dementia by 90 percent, research finds.

Highly fit women were followed for over four decades in the Swedish study.

Their 90 percent lower dementia risk was in comparison to moderately fit women.

Even if highly fit women did develop dementia, its onset was, on average, 11 years later.

Dr Helena Hörder, the study’s first author, said:

“These findings are exciting because it’s possible that improving people’s cardiovascular fitness in middle age could delay or even prevent them from developing dementia.

However, this study does not show cause and effect between cardiovascular fitness and dementia, it only shows an association.

More research is needed to see if improved fitness could have a positive effect on the risk of dementia and also to look at when during a lifetime a high fitness level is most important.”

The study involved 191 women over 50 who took a bicycle test, in which they continued until they were exhausted.

Women who had to stop due to high blood pressure, chest pains or other problem were 45 percent more likely to develop dementia decades later.

Dr Hörder said:

“This indicates that negative cardiovascular processes may be happening in midlife that could increase the risk of dementia much later in life.”

The study was published in the journal Neurology (Hörder et al., 2018).

The Hobbies That Halt Cognitive Decline In Seniors (M)

Your brain could stay sharp for years just by doing these simple activities.

Keep reading with a Membership

• Read members-only articles
• Adverts removed
• Cancel at any time
• 14 day money-back guarantee for new members

Become a member