Worrying about getting old 'increases the risk of dementia': Positive thinking is the key to a healthy brain in old age

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Dreading growing old may raise your risk of Alzheimer’s, scientists have warned.

They have shown that middle-aged people who view ageing as a handicap are more likely to have dementia-like changes to their brain decades later.

It is thought the stress generated by such thoughts and fears eats away at the brain over time.

The US researchers said while there has been a lot of focus on how a healthy diet can help keep the mind young, we should also consider the benefits of positive thinking.

Easier than exercise and cheaper than drugs, it could help stem the rise in Alzheimer’s disease. 

Positive thinking may protect against Alzheimer's disease, researchers claim. Middle-aged people who view ageing as a handicap are more likely to have dementia-like changes to their brain decades later, they found

Existing drugs for the condition are of limited benefit and the search for better treatments has been littered with disappointment.

Researcher Becca Levy said: ‘Although the findings are concerning, it is encouraging to realise that these negative beliefs about ageing can be mitigated and positive beliefs can be reinforced, so that the adverse impact is not inevitable.’

Dr Levy, of the Yale School of Public Health, analysed data 74 men and women collected from when they were middle-aged until they died.

All were healthy at the start of the study and aged mainly in their late 50s and early 60s.

First, they filled in a survey designed to assess their attitude to ageing.

Questions included whether they considered the elderly as absent-minded or grouchy and whether people become less useful as they get older.

Twenty years later, they started to have annual scans that measured the size of the hippocampus, brain’s memory hub.

The brain normally shrinks with age, but the hippocampus shrivelled three times as quickly in those negative views of ageing two decades before.

Further evidence came from examinations of the brain done after death.

These tests, which were carried out an average of 28 years after the study started, showed those who held negative views of ageing when younger had higher levels of two proteins that are hallmarks of Alzheimer’s.

The finding held when other factors such as age, education and overall health were taken into account.

Writing in the journal Psychology and Aging, Dr Levy said: ‘We believe it is the stress generated by negative beliefs about ageing that individuals sometimes internalise from society that can result in pathological brain changes.’

Dr Levy said: ‘This finding provides a basis for reinterpreting Alzheimer’s disease data.

‘To illustrate, diet has been posited as an explanation for why the rate of Alzheimer’s disease in the United States is five times that of India.

‘Alternatively, this discrepancy might be explained by the comparison of those two cultures from which age stereotypes are derived: India has a tradition of venerating elders, whereas the United States has a prevalence of negative age stereotypes.’

Professor Sir Cary Cooper, a Manchester University health psychologist, said that positive thinkers are more likely to socialise, exercise and do other things that keeps their mind young.

Dr Ian Le Guillou, of the Alzheimer’s Society, said: ‘This interesting study suggests that having negative perceptions of old age, and the stress this can bring, can have an impact on your brain health.

‘While this study didn’t look at the development of Alzheimer’s disease specifically, it observed both shrinkage in the hippocampus – a part of the brain associated with memory - and the build-up of toxic proteins that are linked to Alzheimer’s disease.

‘As we age, our risk of developing health problems does increase and it’s no surprise that people will worry, but there are positive actions that people can take to limit this risk.

‘Research shows that a healthy diet, exercising and not smoking can reduce your risk of developing dementia.’

Positive thinking is easier than exercise and cheaper than drugs, and could help stem the rise in Alzheimer’s disease, researchers said (file photo)

Dr Laura Phipps, of Alzheimer’s Research UK, said: ‘Identifying trends and factors linked to Alzheimer’s can point to important areas of further study.

‘The researchers behind this study suggest that negative age stereotypes may be linked to stress levels, which could negatively affect brain health.

‘This study did not measure stress levels in the volunteers, but ongoing research is looking at the role that stress could play in diseases like Alzheimer’s.’

However, she cautioned that the results could also be caused by the early stages of Alzheimer’s twisting people’s thoughts and making more negative.

Dr Levy has previously shown that thinking positive adds an average of seven and a half years to life – more than exercising or not smoking.

She has also warned that talking down to the elderly, by calling them ‘sweetie’ or ‘dear’, could be bad for their health.