Clean living conscientious types less prone to Alzheimer's

Oct 2 2007

According to the latest research from the United states if you are a clean living conscientious person you are less likely to develop Alzheimer's disease.

It appears from the research that those amongst us who are self-disciplined and scrupulous stand less chance of being afflicted with the brain-wasting disease.

Alzheimer's disease is characterised by memory loss and confusion that becomes so severe that patients are unable to care for themselves.

The study by researchers at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago is the latest to emerge from long term research on the lives of almost 1,000 Catholic nuns, priests and brothers.

Robert Wilson and his colleagues began their study in 1994 and at that time those in the study, who were all over 65, did not have dementia.

The researchers defined conscientiousness in the study as people who are able to control their impulses, are goal-orientated and are usually considered to be dependable types who always 'got the job done'.

The volunteers were asked to rank themselves on a five-point scale according to a 12-item inventory, which presented questions such as "Am I a productive person who always gets the job done."

From this inventory they derived a conscientiousness score, based on a scale of 0 to 48.

The average score amongst the volunteers was 34.

The participants were given various medical and neurological exams, including cognitive testing, and follow-up tests were done each year through to 2006.

During the study 176 people developed Alzheimer's disease and 383 died.

It was found that those people who were highly conscientious with scores of 40 or higher, had an 89 percent lower risk of developing Alzheimer's disease than those who ranked in the 10th percentile, with a score of 28 or lower.

The researchers also found that conscientiousness was linked with a slower rate of cognitive decline and a lower risk of mild cognitive impairment, a risk factor for Alzheimer's disease.

Wilson and his colleagues suggest conscientious people are less prone to Alzheimer's because they tend to be more resilient, making them better able to cope with difficulties.

They say such people experience a fair measure of success in school and work and these factors possibly lessen the adverse consequences of negative life events and chronic psychological distress, which have been associated with risk of dementia in old age.

The researchers say further exploration of the phenomenon could lead to treatments for Alzheimer's disease.

The World Health Organization estimates as many as 18 million people worldwide have Alzheimer's disease.

The study appears in the Archives of General Psychiatry.