Stress: A fast track to Alzheimer’s disease?

How many of you “just live with” stress?

Perhaps you don’t think much of it. Or maybe you’re even proud of it.

Indeed, some people wear living with stress as a badge of honor.

Somewhere along the line, it all became a big joke. (Some might even say being stressed is the American way!)

But let me ask you this…

Is living with stress still “no biggie” if it puts you on the fast track to developing Alzheimer’s disease (AD)?

The surprising impact of stressful events

I recently came across a study that literally shocked me.

It suggests that experiencing a stressful life event (SLE) in childhood and midlife is associated with a higher risk of AD and neuroinflammation.

We’re talking about events like a divorce or the death of a loved one, for example.

Isn’t that startling—considering those types of traumatic events occur routinely and quite often?

The participants in the study were part of the ALzheimer’s and FAmilies (ALFA) project. All were cognitively unimparired (CU), yet considered at an increased risk of developing AD due to family history.

It turns out, childhood and midlife SLEs—but not total lifetime SLE—were associated with a higher likelihood of AD and neuroinflammation.

The researchers went into detail about plaque formation, grey matter volume, and more. But for the sake of simplicity, I’ll leave it at this…

We’re still learning

Your brain is pretty complicated.

We know almost nothing about how it works and, furthermore, about how it declines.

Not to mention, all forms of dementia are complex. There are a variety of biological changes at work that we haven’t quite cracked yet.

And while we might know that things like neuroinflammation, shifts in the immune system, and blood vessel health play a role in the development of AD…

We don’t completely understand exactly how SLE might predispose someone to developing AD later in life.

In other words, I’m not sharing this news to stress you even further. Especially because, often, there’s little we can do to prevent SLE like the examples mentioned above.

What we can do, however, is be conscious of chronic stress—and start addressing it at ANY age.

But I’m all out of space for today. Be sure to tune back in tomorrow so we can finish this conversation—and put a cap on chronic stress, for good.

P.S. In my Alzheimer’s Prevention and Treatment Plan, I outline an all-natural protocol to protect and restore memory, strengthen focus, and fight dementia. To learn more about this innovative, online learning tool, click here now!

Source:

“New research on how common stressors raise dementia risk.” MDLinx, 06/20/2024. (mdlinx.com/article/new-research-on-how-common-stressors-raise-dementia-risk/7KmsZjfFWQGRzU4ZUJSiS3)