New research links Alzheimer's risk with negative thoughts about ageing
How you feel about ageing could influence your risk against Alzheimer’s, according to recent research.
A study by Yale University found a link between negative thoughts on ageing and an increased risk of developing Alzheimer’s. The findings, published in the journal of Psychology and Aging, analysed data from the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Ageing, where 158 healthy people were asked to rate their agreement with statements like “older people are absent-minded” or “older people have trouble learning new things”. The participants answered the questions in their 40s and 25 years later underwent annual MRIs for a decade.
Researchers found the people who believed in negative age stereotypes had “significantly steeper decline” in their hippocampal volume – the brain region which is associated with Alzheimer’s disease – than their peers who were more age-positive. People who believed ageist stereotypes showed the same amount of decline in three years as their age-positive group in nine years.
In the first study to look at the link between ageist stereotypes and age-related diseases, the researchers noted there was no conclusive proof that negative thoughts on ageing impacted the decline, but speculated the stress could be a reason.
“We believe it is the stress generated by the negative beliefs about ageing that individuals sometimes internalise from society that can result in pathological brain changes,” Becca Levy, a lead researcher from the Yale School of Public Health, said in a statement.
“Although the findings are concerning, it is encouraging to realize that these negative beliefs about aging can be mitigated and positive beliefs about aging can be reinforced, so that the adverse impact is not inevitable,” Levy said.
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