Daily HealthBeat Tip - October 02, 2007

A life of worry

From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, I’m Ira Dreyfuss with HHS HealthBeat.

People who spend their years feeling worried, tense and angry may not like how things turn out. A researcher says that, the more people do that, the greater their risk of developing mild cognitive impairment.

Mild cognitive impairment – a little forgetting or a little less clear thinking – doesn’t sound that bad. But it can be a warning of approaching Alzheimer’s disease, which is why Robert Wilson of Chicago’s Rush University Medical Center looked into it.

``What we found is that negative emotions are bad for your cognition and your risk of Alzheimer’s disease.’’  (7 seconds)

This doesn’t mean constant worry causes Alzheimer’s – just that there seems to be some connection. Wilson also says being happy doesn’t prevent it.

Wilson’s examination of 12 years of data was supported by the National Institutes of Health and published in the journal Neurology.

Learn more at hhs.gov.

HHS HealthBeat is a production of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. I’m Ira Dreyfuss.

Last revised: May, 26 2008