For many the ruling by the Supreme Court on Obamacare has raised stress levels. However stopping chronic stress can reduce dementia. The reason I bring this up is how you think about things today can lead to you suffering from Alzheimer or dementia later in life and the best defense against not having physical or mental problems as you age is to reduce the stress in your life and honestly that is an inside job.

There was a recent article in Forbes that speaks to the status quo.

Stopping Chronic Stress Can Reduce Dementia

Here’s a little bit about what we already know about the stress-dementia connection. A couple of years ago, one study reported that women who had been through significant stressors in mid-life had a significantly (65%) greater risk of developing dementia later on. The theory is that stressful events can trigger a cascade of reactions involving the stress hormones (glucocorticoids) and eventually leading to atrophy in the brain’s hippocampus – the region that is the seat of memory, and known to be most affected by Alzheimer’s disease.

Earlier work had pointed to the fact that indeed in mice, the stress hormones are linked to higher levels of amyloid precursor protein (APP) and tau protein, which is seen in Alzheimer’s and in other forms of dementia. Since humans with Alzheimer’s are known to have higher levels of the stress hormones, the authors suggest that the hormones are not a consequence of the disease, but, perhaps, a cause.

And earlier this year, a study found that when mice are subjected to stress over a period of time, they have more phosphorylated tau protein deposits in their brains (see this Scientific American blog for a nice synopsis). Interestingly, the study also found that if a compound is given which blocks a step in the stress cascade, the same brain changes do not occur, which could suggest a future drug target.

Finally, the other, more famous culprit in Alzheimer’s disease, amyloid-beta plaques (or “brain gunk”) have been shown to accumulate following increased brain cell activity. Specifically, there’s evidence that people who have more activity in their default mode networks (which is linked to depression, mind-wandering, and general unhappy thoughts, among others) may have increased risk for Alzheimer’s disease precisely because of this connection. This suggests, somewhat alarmingly, that even our thoughts and moods may affect our risk for dementia.

Click here to read more about chronic stress and reducing dementia

So Learning ways to stop chronic stress not only helps you feel better now it makes your future health healthier.

So to help you not to stress out share this article with all your friends and those you don’t call friends. Thanks