Lack of purpose and personal growth can be an early sign of dementia
A new study says that feeling like your life lacks purpose and there are fewer opportunities for personal growth could be an early sign of dementiaThe Alzheimer’s Association says dementia is not a single disease. “It is an umbrella term that describes a set of symptoms that a person may experience if they have a variety of diseases, including Alzheimer’s disease. The diseases grouped under the general term ‘dementia’ are caused by abnormal changes in the brain.”
The study was published in the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry. The researchers found that among older adults, these aspects of psychological well-being were markedly reduced three to six years before a diagnosis of mild cognitive impairment, in which a person’s memory and thinking are impaired but not to the point of interfering with daily functioning.
Mild cognitive impairment is often seen to precede dementia, in which symptoms become severe enough to interfere with daily activities. The researchers, including those from the Department of Nutrition and Health at China Agricultural University, said that while there is growing evidence linking psychological well-being to brain aging and related disorders such as dementia, much of it focuses on the aspect of a person’s sense of purpose and not others, including personal growth.
For the study, researchers followed 910 older adults in the U.S. over a period of more than 10 years. The participants, who had an average age of over 80 and were cognitively healthy, underwent annual checkups, which included tests of brain function, cognition and psychological well-being.
The authors found that of the 910 participants, about one-third (265) developed mild cognitive impairment. More than one-third of those 265 (89) developed dementia, they said. The authors wrote: “Compared with participants who remained cognitively intact, those who developed mild cognitive impairment had a lower level of purpose in life starting at 3 years before diagnosis and a lower level of personal growth starting at 6 years before diagnosis.”
The researchers also found that of the individuals studied, more than 75 percent of whom were women, those who developed mild cognitive impairment were more likely to be older, weigh less and have lower levels of psychological well-being, compared to those who remained cognitively intact.
The authors noted that because this was an observational study, they could not draw firm conclusions about cause and effect. Furthermore, although the processes underlying the link between well-being and cognitive function are not well understood, the authors noted that the factors may have a bidirectional relationship.
In other words, they explained that poor cognition could affect psychological well-being and vice versa. Better well-being and better cognitive function might also share certain protective factors, they suggested. The authors wrote: “Our findings indicate that personal growth and purpose in life may be more cognitively demanding than other components of well-being and may therefore serve as more sensitive indicators of cognitive aging.”
(With inputs from IANS)
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