'Dementia risk' for shy and anxious
Updated on 20 January 2009
Being anxious and shy may increase a person's risk of developing dementia, research suggests.
Scientists assessed the personalities and lifestyles of 506 older people and then monitored them for six years.
During that time 144 developed Alzheimer's disease or other forms of dementia. The study found that both being easily stressed and socially isolated appeared to increase the chances of mental decline.
Volunteers were asked questions designed to see how extrovert, emotionally stable, calm, or negative and anxious they were. A lifestyle questionnaire examined the degree to which they participated in leisure or organisational activities, and the richness of their social networks.
The results, reported in the journal Neurology, showed that even if they were not socially active, people who were calm and relaxed were 50% less likely to develop dementia than those who were isolated and easily stressed. Dementia risk for outgoing people was also 50% lower when they were calm rather than stress-prone.
Study leader Dr Hui-Xin Wang, from the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden, said: "In the past, studies have shown that chronic distress can affect parts of the brain, such as the hippocampus, possibly leading to dementia, but our findings suggest that having a calm and outgoing personality in combination with a socially active lifestyle may decrease the risk of developing dementia even further.
"The good news is, lifestyle factors can be modified as opposed to genetic factors which cannot be controlled. But these are early results, so how exactly mental attitude influences risk for dementia is not clear."
Dr Susanne Sorensen, head of research at the Alzheimer's Society, said: "Doctors have always believed that personality traits are linked to risk of dementia. This compelling new evidence suggests people who are easily stressed or not very out-going should make every effort to be socially active.
"However, it's a chicken and egg scenario; do these personality traits increase risk of dementia in older people or are they an early sign of the disease? One in three people over 65 will die with dementia. It is vital to keep mentally and physically active throughout your life to reduce risk of this devastating condition."
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