They looked at performance in memory and thinking tests of 1,300 people in their 50s to gauge brain health.

The study did not look at the risk of dementia and experts said there could be many different factors at play.

The findings were presented at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference in London.

Although the research could not establish any direct link between stress and an increased risk of dementia, stressful experiences are known to have an impact on brain function, which could then lead to dementia in the longer term.

Poorer memory

The theory is that stress increases inflammation, which could increase the chances of developing dementia – and this is currently being tested by University of Southampton researchers.

This study, from the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine, found that African Americans were more at risk of stress in life than other ethnic groups. This is because they scored poorer results in the memory tests than other groups and also tended to live in poorer neighbourhoods.

Stressful experiences across all groups included educational difficulties, financial insecurity, serious health problems and psychological trauma.

Other studies presented at the conference point to growing evidence that stress in early life and where people live can be factors in an individual’s risk of developing dementia.

Dr Doug Brown, director of research and development for Alzheimer’s Society, said studying the role of stress was complex.

“It is hard to separate from other conditions such as anxiety and depression, which are also thought to contribute towards dementia risk.

“However, the findings do indicate that more should be done to support people from disadvantaged communities who are more likely to experience stressful life events.”

There are currently around 850,000 people in the UK with dementia.

It mainly affects people over the age of 65 and, while the likelihood of developing dementia rises sharply with age, about 42,000 of those suffering from the condition are younger than that.

Dr Carol Routledge, director of research at Alzheimer’s Research UK, said there could be a number of different factors involved in the link between stress and memory decline.

But she said the brain was an “incredibly intricate organ” to research.

“There is a growing realisation that events and experiences throughout life can impact the brain decades later and researchers must take a whole lifespan approach to understanding brain health in later life.”

Tips for reducing the risk of dementia

1. Keep physically active for at least 30 minutes, five times a week.
2. Don’t smoke, or give up if you do.
3. Eat a healthy balanced diet including oily fish, fruit, vegetables and low levels of red meat and sugar.
4. Keep your alcohol intake to a maximum of 14 units per week for men and women.
5. Manage other health conditions such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol and type 2 diabetes.
6. Keep to a healthy weight to reduce your risk of type 2 diabetes, stroke and heart disease.
7. Give your brain a daily workout by doing puzzles, word searches or crosswords or learning something new.
8. Keeping socially engaged and have a good social network.

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Source: BBC

The post Stressful experiences ‘can age the brain by four years’ appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

In a study of 300 people, those with higher activity in the amygdala were more likely to develop cardiovascular disease – and sooner than others.

Stress could be as important a risk factor as smoking and high blood pressure, the US researchers said.

Heart experts said at-risk patients should be helped to manage stress.

Emotional stress has long been linked with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD), which affects the heart and blood vessels – but the way this happens has not been properly understood.

This study, led by a team from Harvard Medical School, points to heightened activity in the amygdala – an area of the brain that processes emotions such as fear and anger – as helping to explain the link.

The researchers suggest that the amygdala signals to the bone marrow to produce extra white blood cells, which in turn act on the arteries causing them to become inflamed. This can then cause heart attacks, angina and strokes.

As a result, when stressed, this part of the brain appears to be a good predictor of cardiovascular events.

But they also said more research was needed to confirm this chain of events.

Inflammation insight
The Lancet research looked at two different studies. The first scanned the brain, bone marrow, spleen and arteries of 293 patients, who were tracked for nearly four years to see if they developed CVD. In this time, 22 patients did, and they were the ones with higher activity in the amygdala.

The second very small study, of 13 patients, looked at the relationship between stress levels and inflammation in the body.

It found that those who reported the highest levels of stress had the highest levels of amygdala activity and more evidence of inflammation in their blood and arteries.

Dr Ahmed Tawakol, lead author and associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, said: “Our results provide a unique insight into how stress may lead to cardiovascular disease.

“This raises the possibility that reducing stress could produce benefits that extend beyond an improved sense of psychological wellbeing.

What does the amygdala do?
It’s the part of the brain that prepares you for fight or flight, becoming activated by strong emotional reactions.

The amygdalae (because there are two of them – one on each side of the brain) are almond-shaped groups of cells located deep within the medial temporal lobes of the brain.

In humans and animals, the amygdala is linked to responses to both fear and pleasure.
The term amygdala – which means almond in Latin – was first used in 1819.

Dr Tawakol added: “Eventually, chronic stress could be treated as an important risk factor for cardiovascular disease, which is routinely screened for and effectively managed like other major cardiovascular disease risk factors.”

Commenting on the research, Dr Ilze Bot, from Leiden University in the Netherlands, said more and more people were experiencing stress on a daily basis.

“Heavy workloads, job insecurity or living in poverty are circumstances that can result in chronically increased stress, which in turn can lead to chronic psychological disorders such as depression.”

Emily Reeve, senior cardiac nurse at the British Heart Foundation, said reducing the risk of heart disease and stroke from stress normally focused on controlling lifestyle habits such as smoking, drinking too much alcohol and overeating – but this should change.

“Exploring the brain’s management of stress and discovering why it increases the risk of heart disease will allow us to develop new ways of managing chronic psychological stress.

“This could lead to ensuring that patients who are at risk are routinely screened and that their stress is managed effectively.”

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Source: BBC

The post Brain activity ‘key in stress link to heart disease’ appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.