Alzheimer's risk higher in people who believe in negative stereotypes about aging: study

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People had a higher risk for developing Alzheimer's if they feel negative about old people and aging, a new study reveals.

The study by Yale School of Public Health found that people who think they will be physically inept and mentally challenged when they grow old will probably develop those traits and brain changes similar to Alzheimer's disease decades later. This is especially true in Western societies than in other countries where the elderly are more respected such as India.

"We believe it is the stress generated by the negative beliefs about aging that individuals sometimes internalise from society that can result in pathological brain changes," said Dr. Becca Levy, lead author, as reported by Telegraph. "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 a comparison of those two cultures from which age stereotypes are derived: India has a tradition of venerating elders," she adds. "I think treating older individuals with respect could have a noticeable beneficial impact for society and for its older members."

The study is the first of its kind to link aging-related disease to social and cultural stereotypes. It is published in the journal Psychology and Aging.

For the study, the researchers looked at the data of more than 60 men and women who died in their middle ages. The information was gathered from the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging where all participants are in their 50s to 60s and had no dementia during the start of the study. They were asked to fill in a survey about ageing and their attitude towards it. They were followed for decades until such time that they were getting annual brain scans by the time they were in the late 60s.

Researchers found that the people who had negative attitudes about aging had shrunken hippocampus, the brain's memory part. They also found that these people had more Alzheimer's disease biomarkers. When they passed, researchers conducted post-mortem research. According to LA Times, they found that they had more amyloid plaques and tangles in their brain, signs of Alzheimer's disease than those who had more positive outlook with aging.

However, negative views about ageing can be reversed and the inevitability of the effect can be stopped.

"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," Levy said, via Daily Mail.