Stress and life crises increase Alzheimer's risk

Traumatic experiences could greatly increase the risk of dementia

02/10/2013

Stress can increase the risk of dementia later in life. This was the result of a survey of 800 Swedish women, some of whom had traumatic experiences during their lifetime, such as deaths, separation or serious illnesses. Lena Johansson from the University of Gothenburg and her colleagues found that subjects who were exposed to increased stress were more likely to develop some form of dementia than the other women. Targeted stress management and behavioral therapy after traumatic events could help reduce the risk of dementia.

Mid-aged stress increases later dementia risk
Traumatic experiences such as the death of a relative or a serious illness in middle age can increase the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease or another form of dementia later in life. Presumably stress will alter physiological factors conducive to the development of dementia.

„It is well known that experiences of severe psychological stressors such as war or a natural disaster can affect mental and physical health decades later ", write Johansson and her colleagues in the „British Medical Journal“. The extent to which less dramatic but more common traumatic experiences such as separation or death have had an impact has not been known yet.

As part of a long-term study, the researchers investigated whether such traumas increase the risk of dementia later in life. For this purpose, the health data of 800 Swedish women of the birth cohorts 1914, 1918, 1922 and 1930 were analyzed, which were observed over 37 years. The study participants were subjected to numerous neuropsychiatric tests every ten years from the age of 30. In addition, they had to state whether they had experienced traumatic events such as divorces or deaths. The women were also asked about stressors in the professional and social area. Also problems of the partner like unemployment were recorded.

Women with traumatic experiences have a 21 percent increased Alzheimer's risk
„During the 37-year observation period, 153 women developed dementia -104 of them were ill with Alzheimer's disease“, the researchers write. The average age at which the disease occurred was 78 years. The women who were exposed to severe stress throughout their lives became significantly more likely than other study participants. Their Alzheimer's risk was 21 percent higher than that of women who were not exposed to severe stressors. In order to demonstrate the correlation between stress and an increased risk of dementia, the researchers also considered other factors such as health problems or previous cases of familial dementia in their analysis.

„Our study shows that normal psychosocial stressors can have severe and long-lasting physiological and psychological consequences, "Johansson and her colleagues report. „However, further studies are needed to confirm these findings and to investigate whether further measures such as stress management and behavioral therapy should be initiated in persons who have experienced psychosocial stress.“

Stress causes physiological changes in the body
Stress triggers various physiological reactions in the central nervous system, immune system, metabolism and the cardiovascular system, which make the brain more susceptible to the development of dementia as part of complex processes. Furthermore, it is said in the journal that it was known early on that stress could lead to functional damage in the brain and inflammation. Even stress hormones are detectable years after a traumatic experience in increased concentration.

Worldwide, the number of people with dementia is rising sharply. According to the 2013 World Alzheimer's Report, around 115 million people worldwide will contract dementia by 2050, compared with around 35 million currently. According to experts, around 1.4 million people live in Germany. (Ag)

Picture: Rainer Sturm