Stress, due to grief, bereavement, divorce, and other unpleasant events, can lead to the development of senile dementia in middle-aged women. This was revealed by a long-term study, conducted by the Swedish University of Gothenburg, according to which the more stressful the event, the greater the risk of contracting diseases such as Alzheimer's.
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Lo stress, due to grief, bereavement, divorce and other unpleasant events, can provoke the development of dementia senile in middle-aged women. This was revealed by a long-term study, conducted by the Swedish University of Gothenburg, according to which the more stressful the event, the greater the risk of contracting diseases such as Alzheimer's.
The research, published in the journal BMJ Open, examined data gathered from a long-term study done on 800 Swedish women who underwent a series of neuropsychiatric tests when they were selected in 1968.
Women were all born in 1914, 1918, 1922 and 1930. They were asked about the "stressors" in their lives, such as divorce, widowhood, work problems and illnesses suffered by a relative, at regular intervals over the course of four decades. One in four had experienced at least one stressful event, 23 percent had reported two, one in five had experienced three stressors, and 16 percent had reported four or more.
It became clear that the adverse events resulted in an increased risk of dementia among middle-aged women. Women who reported more stressors in 1968 were 21 percent more likely to develop dementia.
Although the authors have pointed out that they are more research needed to confirm the results of the study, they have no doubts that "stress can cause a series of physiological reactions of the endocrine system, the central nervous system, the immune and cardiovascular systems".
"Our study shows that common psychosocial stressors can have serious and long-standing physiological and psychological consequences" explain the authors of the research. "The number of psychosocial stressors measured in middle-aged women was linked to the incidence of Alzheimer's disease nearly four decades later."
Waiting for new confirmations, better stay calm, eat pistachios and practice yoga, even at work...
Francesca Mancuso
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