Can stress leads to the increased risk of dementia?

Constant stress can not only lead to depression, but also increase the risk of dementia. This was indicated by a recent study.

The stressful experiences such as the death of a partner can trigger depressive phases in the workplace. Now a study has shown that people who are experiencing a lot of stress and grief in the midst of life, also have an increased risk of dementia and Alzheimer’s.

For the study, which covers a period of 38 years, the researchers have analyzed the data of 800 women between 30 and in the end mid-50s at the age. The women were first interviewed about psychologically stressful events in their lives in 1968. By the year 2006 153 of them has developed of dementia, 104 of them have an Alzheimer’s disease.

The more stress factors mean the higher  risk of dementia.

In interview on the topic of most common stress reasons the participants indicated psychological or organic stress, other diseases of partners and children, alcohol problems in the family, divorce, deaths or problems at work. The researchers found that each stressor, that women had indicated in 1968, increased their risk for later dementia by 15 percent. The risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease increased by 21 percent. Than more stress factors women had live through, than higher the rate of dementia later. This is true even when other risk factors for high blood pressure, diabetes, smoking or a poor education have been excluded from the statistics.

For the study authors is clear that great stress increases the risk of dementia in middle age – even if the numbers involved in the current study was quite small. The results are supported by evidence from other studies and its showing that chronic stress can lead to death off nerves and nerve cells. Now according to the authors, further studies should clarify measures of coping with stress and also how can we reduce the risk of dementia.