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Category: Dementia
The Personality Trait That Lowers Dementia Risk
The trait may encourage people to keep their mind active, which is a protective factor against dementia.
The trait may encourage people to keep their mind active, which is a protective factor against dementia.
People who are open to experience have a lower risk of developing dementia.
This personality trait, one of the five major aspects of personality, is linked to being more imaginative, sensitive to feelings, intellectually curious and seeking variety.
Openness may encourage people to keep their mind active, which a protective factor against dementia.
People who are more open also tend to have higher levels of education, which also reduces dementia risk.
The second personality trait linked to dementia in the study was neuroticism.
However, not all traits are protective: being neurotic increased the risk of developing dementia by 6 percent, the researchers found.
The major personality trait of neuroticism involves a tendency towards worry and moodiness.
People who are neurotic are more likely to experience negative emotions like depression, anxiety, guilt and envy.
Other studies have found that being neurotic may double the risk of developing dementia later in life.
Neurotic people are particularly sensitive to chronic stress.
Personality, though, is not destiny, when it comes to dementia — good brain health is about nature and nurture.
Many factors reduce dementia risk, such as a healthy lifestyle, which includes eating properly and getting enough exercise.
Indeed, making four out of five critical lifestyle changes can reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s by 60 percent.
Keeping the mind active is thought to reduce dementia risk.
Learning new activities, travelling and deepening social relationships may all be beneficial.
The present study included 524 people who were given tests of personality and symptoms of pre-dementia.
Ms Emmeline Ayers, the study’s first author, explained:
“While more studies are needed, our results provide evidence that personality traits play an independent role in the risk for or protection against specific pre-dementia syndromes.
From a clinical perspective, these findings emphasize the importance of accounting for aspects of personality when assessing for dementia risk.”
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The study was published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society (Ayers et al., 2020).
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This Lifesaving Ingredient Prevents Alzheimer’s
There are around 5.5 million Americans living with Alzheimer’s and deaths have almost doubled in two decades.
There are around 5.5 million Americans living with Alzheimer’s and deaths have almost doubled in two decades.
Exercise could be the lifesaving ingredient that prevents Alzheimer’s disease.
Higher levels of fitness were linked to less deterioration of critical nerve fibers in the brain, the so-called ‘white matter’.
The brain’s white matter is the bundle of nerve fibers the neurons use to communicate with each other.
People with lower levels of fitness had weaker white matter and lower brain function.
Dr Kan Ding, the study’s first author, said:
“This research supports the hypothesis that improving people’s fitness may improve their brain health and slow down the aging process.”
The scientists measured people’s cardiorespiratory fitness along with carrying out brain scans.
Dr Rong Zhang, study co-author, said:
“Evidence suggests that what is bad for your heart is bad for your brain.
We need studies like this to find out how the two are intertwined and hopefully find the right formula to help prevent Alzheimer’s disease.”
Further research at the O’Donnell Brain Institute at The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center is now examining how much exercise works and whether it is ever too late.
The study will also look at the effects of cholesterol levels and blood pressure on preserving brain function.
Dr Ding said:
“A lot of work remains to better understand and treat dementia.
But, eventually, the hope is that our studies will convince people to exercise more.”
The study was published in the journal Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease (Ding et al., 2017).
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2 Methods To Slow Dementia By 75%
Older people’s memory and thinking skills dramatically improved.
Older people’s memory and thinking skills dramatically improved.
Hearing aids and cataract surgery can slow dementia by 75 percent.
Being able to see and hear better helps preserve people’s memory and their thinking skills as they age.
Dr Piers Dawes, study co-author, said:
“These studies underline just how important it is to overcome the barriers which deny people from accessing hearing and visual aids.
It’s not really certain why hearing and visual problems have an impact on cognitive decline, but I’d guess that isolation, stigma and the resultant lack of physical activity that are linked to hearing and vision problems might have something to do with it.
And there are barriers to overcome: people might not want to wear hearing aids because of stigma attached to wearing them, or they feel the amplification is not good enough or they’re not comfortable.
Perhaps a way forward is adult screening to better identify hearing and vision problems and in the case of hearing loss, demedicalising the whole process so treatment is done outside the clinical setting.
That could reduce stigma.
Wearable hearing devices are coming on stream nowadays which might also be helpful.
They not only assist your hearing, but give you access to the internet and other services.”
The two studies assessed the thinking skills of thousands of people before and after they had cataract surgery and hearing aids.
Cataract surgery was linked to a 50% improvement in thinking skills, while hearing aids were linked to a 75% improvement.
Dr Asri Maharani, the first author of both studies, said:
“Age is one of the most important factors implicated in cognitive decline.
We find that hearing and vision interventions may slow it down and perhaps prevent some cases of dementia, which is exciting- though we can’t say yet that this is a causal relationship.”
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- 8 Everyday Eating Habits That Reduce Dementia Risk (P)
- 10 Science-Backed Ways To Slash Your Dementia Risk Today (P)
- 12 Brain-Boosting Strategies That Protect Against Mild Cognitive Impairment (P)
The studies were published in PLOS ONE and the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society (Maharani et al., 2018; Maharani et al., 2018).
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