Stressed women are prone to Alzheimer’s says study

Are too stressed out most of the times? It could trigger a number of conditions including Alzeimer's. New research says anxious, easily-stressed women are more prone to developing Alzheimer's later in

By: Editorial Team | | Updated: October 4, 2014 4:00 pm

Are too stressed out most of the times? It could trigger a number of conditions including Alzeimer’s. New research says anxious, easily-stressed women are more prone to developing Alzheimer’s later in life. Also Read - Avoid sexual dysfunction: Having multiple partners may actually be good for you

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After following 800 women for nearly four decades, researchers say certain personality dispositions can put you at risk for the memory-robbing disease, reports huffingtonpost.com. Also Read - Early menopause ups your risk of osteoporosis by almost 56 per cent: How to deal with it

Middle-aged women with an average age of 46 were given a battery of personality tests and asked to make note of any periods of prolonged stress longer than one month to determine certain traits and tendencies.

Researchers then looked at how outgoing or withdrawn participants were, if they were easily distressed, prone to worrying and jealousy, and if they showed signs of neuroticism-a fundamental personality trait in the study of psychology characterised by anxiety, fear and other things.

Over the course of the study, 19 percent of women developed dementia, a kind of brain disaese. But women who scored high for neuroticism were twice as likely to develop the disease than their low-stress counterparts. Withdrawn women with high stress scores were twice as likely as outgoing and less distressed women to develop Alzheimer’s.

It’s not known exactly what brings on the disease, but experts believe it to be a combination of lifestyle factors, genetics, and environment. Other research has also suggested stress could be a contributing factor.

A 2013 study suggested that stress steroids in the brain can impair memory and increase the amount of plaque-building proteins. And taking a different approach, another study found that stress-busting yoga and meditation can even slow the progression of dementia.

Early symptoms of Alzheimer s

According to Dr Rajiv Anand, Director and HOD, Neurology Department, BLK Super Speciality Hospital, New Delhi, the early warning signs of Alzheimer s disease differ from person-to-person, but can generally be categorised as the following ten symptoms. Here s a quick reference list.

Memory loss: Usually related to any recent experience or forgetting family members, significant places (like their home), important dates and events.
Confusion: With a place (that is very well-known to the individual), time, name of a significant person in their life, activities they have performed (like eating, bathing, etc.)
Difficulty in performing tasks: People with Alzheimer s disease often find it difficult to perform basic or familiar tasks at work and home like cooking, shaving or arranging files.
Challenges in solving simple problems: Simple tasks that the person used to enjoy and be adept at, tend to become difficult. Tasks like solving puzzles, easy calculations or planning can be baffling for the individual.
Misplacing things: While this is a common problem most of us have, a person with Alzheimer s will find it difficult to locate things he/she kept in its usual place and will be unable to retrace their steps and find them.

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Published : October 4, 2014 3:59 pm | Updated:October 4, 2014 4:00 pm

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