Stress and senile dementia: the link is obvious
The misfortune experienced increases the risk of dementia in women in old age
A serious emotional shock suffered by a woman in adulthood increases her risk of developing dementia and Alzheimer's disease in old age, according to an article published in the journal BMJ Open.
(Common psychosocial stressors in middle-aged women related to prolonged distress and increased risk of Alzheimer's disease: a 38-year longitudinal population study; a popular retelling, Stress In Mid-Life May Predict Dementia Later In Life: Psycho-Social Effects On Brain Long-Lasting, can be read on the Medical Daily website – VM.)
"Our study shows that common psychological stress factors can have strong and long-lasting psychological and physiological consequences," write the authors of the article, Lena Johansson from the University of Gothenburg (Sweden) and her colleagues.
The study by Johansson and her colleagues involved 800 women born in 1914, 1918, 1922 and 1930. Scientists conducted their first psychiatric examination in 1968, and then checked their health in 1974, 1980, 1992, 2000 and 2005, recording symptoms such as fear, sleep problems and irritability.
The researchers also collected information about 18 factors of severe stress in women's lives, such as the death of a child or husband, divorce, serious illness, insanity or alcoholism of someone from close relatives, unemployment and social isolation, and the like.
By 2005, 153 study participants had developed senile dementia, 104 of them had Alzheimer's disease, on average it happened at 78 years old. Another 425 participants had died by 2005.
Scientists have calculated that, in general, a serious shock in adulthood increases the likelihood of developing Alzheimer's disease by 21% and dementia by 15%. The authors of the article believe that stress can affect mental health by disrupting the work of different body systems: central nervous, endocrine, immune and cardiovascular.
Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru02.10.2013