Pessimism About Old Age May Be a Risk Factor for Dementia

A study published in PLOS One found older Americans with negative beliefs about aging were significantly more likely to develop dementia than others, reports the Los Angeles Times . The researchers studied 4,765 older Americans who answered five questions about their attitudes toward aging. Their cognitive condition was assessed by a standard test conducted over the phone, and only people who did not have dementia when they entered the study were included in the analysis. Participants took the test again every two years. Participants with positive beliefs about aging were 44 percent less likely to develop dementia over the next four years than those with negative beliefs. Even when accounting for other dementia risk factors, the investigators determined the chances for the disorder were lower among those with a positive attitude toward aging. In addition, the benefits of positivity were higher among a sub-segment of adults who had a genetic disposition toward dementia. The researchers theorized positive beliefs about aging could negate the handicap associated with carrying a risky variant of the APOE gene. In the four years after joining the study, 4.6 percent of participants with negative beliefs about aging developed dementia, as did 2.6 percent of those with positive beliefs. Among those with an e4 variant of the APOE gene, 6.14 percent of subjects with negative beliefs about aging developed dementia, versus 2.7 percent of those with positive beliefs.