Increased Alzheimer's risk in moody women

Study: Irritable, moody women are at higher risk for Alzheimer's and dementia

02/10/2014

Whimsy, easily irritable, jealous and generally unbalanced women are significantly more likely to develop Alzheimer's or other dementias than non-neurotic women. Researchers from the University of Gothenburg came to this conclusion in the online edition of the specialist journal „Neurology. "Thus, women who suffer from neuroticism and are introverted, the highest Alzheimer's risk.

Study examines the link between neuroticism and the risk of Alzheimer's and dementia
Lena Johansson and her team examined 800 women over a 38-year period. The first study took place in 1968, the follow-up studies in each case in 1974, 1980, 1992, 2000, and 2005. On the basis of surveys, the researchers determined the extent of neuroticism in each study participant. In psychology, neuroticism is considered a characteristic feature that denotes the emotional lability of a character. These include character traits such as moodiness, irritability, envy, the tendency to nervousness and susceptibility to stress. As a result, neurotic people are more prone to tantrums, depression, and anxiety.

The researchers also looked at whether the women contracted Alzheimer's disease or any other form of dementia during the study period. For this, the subjects had to participate in surveys and neuropsychiatric examinations. In addition, hospital records and registry data were taken into account.

Strongly neurotic women who are introverted have the highest Alzheimer's risk
„During the 38-year study period, 153 women developed dementia; Alzheimer's was diagnosed in 104 of them“, the researchers write in the journal. „Increased midlife neuroticism is associated with an increased risk of dementia and Alzheimer's and prolonged stress over 38 years.“ As it turned out, neurotic women became twice as likely to suffer from a form of dementia as women with low neurotic values. However, stress also plays an essential role, while introversion and extroversion alone do not seem to increase the risk of dementia.

The highest risk for Alzheimer's had strongly neurotic women who were introverted. Of the 800 subjects, this combination of personality traits applied to 63 women, 16 (25 percent) of whom fell ill with Alzheimer's disease. In comparison, the disease occurred in only eight of 64 study participants (13 percent) who had lower neurotic values ​​and were extroverted.

„Our study suggests that midlife neurotics is associated with an increased risk of Alzheimer's and stress favors this connection“, write Johansson and her colleagues.

Changes in the minds of moody women could cause Alzheimer's
According to the researchers, the connection between neuroticism, Alzheimer's and stress could be based on the fact that a person's personality influences his or her habits and in turn has an impact on the risk of dementia. So less neurotic people often have a healthier lifestyle, the scientists report.

Another cause could be due to certain physical changes in the brain that occur as a result of both neuroticism and stress. This causes damage in the hippocampus that affects learning, cognition and memory. As the researchers further report, it is also possible that the so-called neurofibrillary tangles, which are more common in neurotic humans-structural brain changes that are typical of Alzheimer's-cause dementia.

Neuroticism and stress as a trigger for Alzheimer's and dementia?
Professor Stefan Knecht, spokesman for the German Society for Clinical Neurophysiology and Functional Imaging (DGKN), supports this thesis. „There was already evidence that emotionally unstable people are more likely to develop dementia, "the neurologist told the news agency „dpa“. Stress can be one of the causes of dementia. „The immune system is always easily activated during continuous stress. And this mild-grade inflammation can promote arteriosclerosis, called vascular calcification. This also contributes to cognitive degradation. "

Professor Richard Dodel of the German Society of Neurology (DGN) informs the news agency that the study only considers psychological behavioral features but not vascular risk factors, which also played a role in Alzheimer's disease. (Ag)