Worriers risk losing their memory
People who are chronically stressed or depressed are far more likely to develop memory problems than those with sunnier dispositions, US researchers say in a finding published in the journal Neurology that sheds light on early predictors of Alzheimer’s disease.
The researchers say people who most often are anxious or depressed are 40 times more likely to develop mild cognitive impairment, a form of memory loss that is often a transitional stage between normal ageing and dementia.
“Not only are these individuals losing cognition, but they are showing many of the changes in the brain that are associated with Alzheimer’s disease,” says Dr Robert Wilson of Rush University Medical Center in Chicago.
“Chronic distress is related to the first clinical manifestation of Alzheimer’s disease,” he says.
