By: Anne
Ringgaard
Do you trust nobody and do you always believe that other people have a hidden
agenda when they do something good? Then it might be time to change our
attitude as new research indicates that people with a cynical and somewhat
paranoid personality are at higher risk of developing dementia.
On the whole, a hostile and suspicious attitude is quite unhealthy.
“This is a personality trait that in previous studies has been shown to
be connected to a number of diseases such as cardio-vascular diseases, cancer
and increased mortality,” says Anna-Maija Tolppanen, a postdoc at the University
of Eastern Finland. “We were interested in finding whether cynical mistrust
also increases the risk of dementia.”
Isolation increases the risk of
dementia
Anna-Maija Tolppanen and colleagues from the Karolinska Institute in
Sweden have just published their findings in the scientific journal Neurology.
In their study, cynical and suspicious people were found to suffer dementia
three times more often than the others who took part in the study.
“It could be because people with a high degree of cynical mistrust of
other people are less likely to take part in social events than people with
more optimistic types of personality,” says Tolppanen. “We know that social
isolation increases the risk of dementia.”
Prevention should take
personality into account
The Finnish and Swedish researchers reached their result by getting
more than 1,000 adults from different age groups to answer questionnaires over
several years. The participants had to state whether they agreed or disagreed
with statements such as:
“I believe most people are prepared to lie to be successful.”
“It's best not to trust anyone.”
“I always think about the hidden agendas people may have when they are
being good to me.”
“Nobody cares very much about what happens to me.”
“Most people have friends in order to exploit them.”
Afterwards, the participants were divided into groups of low, moderate
or high cynical distrust. Eight years later, when the participants had an
average age of 71 years, 622 of them were tested for dementia. Three times as
many of those who were in the high cynical distrust group could be diagnosed as
having dementia compared those with a more positive attitude to their fellow
human beings.
“The results confirm that taking personality traits into account when
preparing preventive strategies can be a good idea,” says Tolppanen. “But as
our study is the first that shows a correlation between cynicism and dementia
we need more research before we can conclude with certainty that the connection
exists.”
Isolation and depression
increase the risk of dementia
According to Tolppanen there can be biological as well as psychological
causes as to why cynical and suspicious people appear to be more likely to
develop dementia. One explanation could be that cynicism and anger bring forth
inflammation in the body -- which can lead to cardio-vascular diseases and
dementia (see the Factbox).
Another explanation is that cynical and suspicious people live a life
that damages the brain's cognitive functions and thereby increases the risk of
developing dementia.
“Certain personality traits can result in a person becoming more or
less likely to get involved in activities such as social gatherings and
exercise,” she says. “These activities have been shown to be beneficial for the
brain's cognitive functions. It could also be that personality traits such as
cynicism and hostility are related to morphological changes or structural
differences in the brain.”
Depression increases the risk of
dementia
The Danish Dementia Research Centre finds the Finnish-Swedish research
results convincing. According to the centre's neuropsychologist, Kasper
Jørgensen, it could very well be that the cynical participants in the study
lived their lives in a way that increases the risk of developing dementia.
“We know that social isolation is a risk factor and the people with a
small network are more likely to develop dementia,” says Jørgensen. “One can
imagine that cynical and suspicious people are less social than others and seen
in that light it is not surprising if they develop dementia more often.”
He adds that there’s also the possibility that people get depressed
more often if they constantly mistrust others. “We know with great certainty
that depression increases the risk of developing dementia,” says Jørgensen.
Comprehensive Danish register studies have shown an almost doubled risk
of developing dementia amongst people who suffered from severe and
longer-lasting periods of depression throughout their lives. “This can be
because depression wears out the brain, especially the hippocampus, which is
one of the brain centres that are also affected when you suffer from the
Alzheimer's disease,” says Jørgensen.
Cynical people should get
special guidelines
Knowledge about the extent to which different personality traits
increase the risk of dementia can perhaps be used in preventive strategies,
says Jørgensen.
“If we know that people with certain personality traits are a
particularly exposed group then in principle we could target our efforts and
give them advice on how they can reduce their risk,” he says. However, he
doesn’t believe that it’s possible to affect people's personalities directly --
but offers a possible solution.
“If some personality traits tend to lead to a lifestyle that increases
the risk of dementia then perhaps you can be particularly attentive to this
when you give them guidelines for how they can live in a more appropriate way,”
says Jørgensen.
Personality is related to health
Another Danish researcher -- Erik Mortensen, who is professor of
psychology at the University of Copenhagen – is not surprised that the
Finnish-Swedish researchers have found a connection between cynicism and
dementia. During recent decades it has been shown that several personality
traits such as aggressiveness, hostility, cynicism and anxiety can be connected
with a number of different diseases, he says.
“Since people began doing psychological personality tests, researchers
have been able to show that some personality traits are related to poor health
to a greater extent than other traits,” says Mortensen. Although you cannot
change your personality, you can learn to live more appropriately with the
personality traits that you have, he says.
http://sciencenordic.com/cynical-people-are-more-likely-develop-dementia
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