Study: Stop Being So Cynical, You Could Give Yourself Dementia

concertina226 (2447056) writes "Scientists from the University of Eastern Finland have found that people who have high levels of cynical distrust are three times as likely to suffer from dementia in later life, than those who have more faith in other people. Their study is the first of its kind to look at the relationship between cynicism and dementia. Entitled: 'Late-life cynical distrust, risk of incident dementia, and mortality in a population-based cohort', it is published in the latest issue of the journal Neurology. Over a period of eight years, the researchers studied 1,499 people, who all had an average age of 71. The participants were given tests for dementia and a questionnaire to measure their level of cynicism, based on the Cook-Medley Scale."

Comments

There's a relationship...

[Morphine007]

... but is it cause and effect? Or effect and effect? Could the very high levels of cynical distrust be a result of some malady that eventually causes the dementia?

Re:There's a relationship...

[bluegutang]

I'd guess that cynical or distrustful people end up with lesser social connections to other people, a factor which has already been linked to dementia.

Re:There's a relationship...

[cyn1c77]

I'd guess that cynical or distrustful people end up with lesser social connections to other people, a factor which has already been linked to dementia.

I'd guess that the cynicism is an early manifestation of dementia in the people who manifest dementia!

How do we tell who is right in proper peer-reviewed fashion?

Re:Correlation is not causation

[nospam007]

"What if cynicism is just an early warning sign of dementia?"

We used to call it a cranky old fart.