Perceived stress can increase the likelyhood of developing MCI by 50 percent.
According to a new study published by the researchers from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, the likelihood of Alzheimer’s increases twice-fold if the patients have to cope with high levels of stress. The results argue that stress induces early mild cognitive impairment in seniors.
When talking about modern-age diseases, we can unanimously state that stress is by far the winner in this competition. Stress may take any number of forms and shapes, starting with the most common household problem and ending with work-related issues. But according to the recent study regarding stress management, it would seem that we should firmly reconsider our take on everyday stress.
In order to see how everyday stress takes its toll on the elderly, the group of scientists analyzed large volumes of data from the Einstein Ageing Study. More than 500 cases were analyzed to see in there is a connection between stress and the occurrence of mild cognitive impairment.
Richard Lipton, chief medical researcher for the Alber Einstein College of Medicine, declared that he and his team found evidence pointing out that high levels of stress in seniors can increase the chance of developing symptoms associated with mild cognitive impairment, the first stage of Alzheimer’s disease.
Moreover, the results of the study underlined that high levels of stress could increase the chances of developing MCI by 50 percent. Mindy Katz, one of the paper’s author explained a bit the relation between MCI and perceived stress. The author declared that, in these cases, the amount of stress and the way in which we choose to handle it are very important when it comes to MCI.
Actually, there’s also a piece of good news. As stressed out by Katz, such instances can be prevented because perceived stress is a modifiable risk factor, meaning that with the help of certain therapies and treatments it could be easily kept at bay.
The most common treatments used to alleviate the perceived stress levels are stress reduction therapies, centered around the concept of mindfulness and certain cognitive therapies. The doctors can also use stress-reducing medicine in order to lower the levels of stress in a patient.
All the numbers were provided using the perceived stress scale, a method in which a doctor can appraise a patient’s level of stress from a questionnaire filled by a patient. A potential patient has to answer a couple of questions regarding everyday activities. He has to give each activity a score from 0 to 56.
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