{"id":23856,"date":"2024-09-05T08:00:30","date_gmt":"2024-09-05T12:00:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/?p=23856"},"modified":"2024-08-31T11:36:58","modified_gmt":"2024-08-31T15:36:58","slug":"is-anxiety-a-risk-factor-for-dementia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2024\/09\/is-anxiety-a-risk-factor-for-dementia.html","title":{"rendered":"Is Anxiety a Risk Factor for Dementia?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/258\/2024\/08\/dementia-3662192_1280-1.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-23868\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/258\/2024\/08\/dementia-3662192_1280-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1280\" height=\"853\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>If you have ever had a relative with dementia, you know how heart-wrenching it is. Watching someone you love gradually fade away due to memory loss and confusion is so difficult. I experienced this with my dear grandmother, who throughout her life was a devoted pastor&#8217;s wife known for her kindness and generosity. \u00a0As she slipped into dementia, the only thing that momentarily brought her back was when my mom played her favorite church hymns on the piano. For those brief moments she sang with a radiant smile, reconnecting with us before slipping back into the shadows of her condition.<\/p>\n<p>We are constantly searching for ways to prevent dementia and to better understand the underlying changes in the brain that lead to such debilitating memory loss and cognitive decline. A new study may offer valuable insights into this complex neurocognitive condition.<\/p>\n<p>The study was published in the <a href=\"https:\/\/agsjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com\/doi\/10.1111\/jgs.19078?utm_campaign=publicity&amp;utm_content=WRH_7_22_24&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_source=publicity&amp;utm_term=JGS\">Journal of the American Geriatrics Society<\/a>, a journal that focuses on clinical aging research. \u00a0Australian researchers studied 2,132 people at an average age of 76 and followed them over 10 years. They looked at both chronic anxiety and new onset anxiety and the role it may play in development of dementia. What they found was that both chronic and new anxiety were associated with a 2 to 3 times greater risk for dementia. When anxiety was present before the age of 70, the risk was even higher.<\/p>\n<p>Now, this is not a causal study, meaning they aren&#8217;t saying anxiety directly causes dementia. However, the study found a potential risk factor for promoting dementia.<\/p>\n<p>Here is the good news. We can target anxiety as a possible prevention for dementia. In the study, people who resolved their anxiety did not have this increased risk of dementia. Thus, anxiety should be treated to avoid risk, another good reason to pay attention to your mental health.<\/p>\n<p>Living with anxiety is not good for your physical body, the mind or the spirit. The Bible has good reason to tell us to be anxious about nothing. And this may be one of those reasons.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>If you have ever had a relative with dementia, you know how heart-wrenching it is. Watching someone you love gradually fade away due to memory loss and confusion is so difficult. I experienced this with my dear grandmother, who throughout her life was a devoted pastor&#8217;s wife known for her kindness and generosity. \u00a0As she&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":419,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4100],"tags":[823,135,4301,8223,2360,13],"class_list":["post-23856","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-health","tag-aging","tag-anxiety","tag-anxiety-and-health","tag-chronic-anxiety","tag-dementia","tag-mental-health"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Is Anxiety a Risk Factor for Dementia?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"You know how hard it is to have a relative with dementia. But have you ever considered the role anxiety may play in its development?\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/?p=23856\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Is Anxiety a Risk Factor for Dementia?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"You know how hard it is to have a relative with dementia. But have you ever considered the role anxiety may play in its development?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/?p=23856\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Doing Life Together\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/drlindamintle\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-09-05T12:00:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-08-31T15:36:58+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/258\/2024\/08\/dementia-3662192_1280-1.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Linda Mintle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@drlindamintle\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Is Anxiety a Risk Factor for Dementia?","description":"You know how hard it is to have a relative with dementia. But have you ever considered the role anxiety may play in its development?","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/?p=23856","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Is Anxiety a Risk Factor for Dementia?","og_description":"You know how hard it is to have a relative with dementia. But have you ever considered the role anxiety may play in its development?","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/?p=23856","og_site_name":"Doing Life Together","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/drlindamintle\/","article_published_time":"2024-09-05T12:00:30+00:00","article_modified_time":"2024-08-31T15:36:58+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/258\/2024\/08\/dementia-3662192_1280-1.jpg"}],"author":"Linda Mintle","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@drlindamintle","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/?p=23856","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/?p=23856","name":"Is Anxiety a Risk Factor for Dementia?","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/?p=23856#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/?p=23856#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/258\/2024\/08\/dementia-3662192_1280-1.jpg","datePublished":"2024-09-05T12:00:30+00:00","dateModified":"2024-08-31T15:36:58+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/#\/schema\/person\/1e16a9c7332cfcc5b5d89e4ba3a36142"},"description":"You know how hard it is to have a relative with dementia. But have you ever considered the role anxiety may play in its development?","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/?p=23856#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/?p=23856"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/?p=23856#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/258\/2024\/08\/dementia-3662192_1280-1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/258\/2024\/08\/dementia-3662192_1280-1.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/?p=23856#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Is Anxiety a Risk Factor for Dementia?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/","name":"Doing Life Together","description":"Relationship Doctor, Mental Health, Emotional Wellness, Relationship Advice &amp; Entertainment","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/#\/schema\/person\/1e16a9c7332cfcc5b5d89e4ba3a36142","name":"Linda Mintle","description":"It is rare that a trained academic who speaks passionately to the heart of people providing real answers to real life problems is so relatable. Dr. Linda\u2019s fun personality and expertise comes through whether she\u2019s helping her audience stress less or make peace with their thighs! Dr. Linda has her Ph.D. in Urban Health and Clinical Psychology and is a national expert on mental health. She has specialized in the treatment of eating disorders, anxiety, depression and pain management. With 30 years of clinical experience working with couples, families and individuals, she brings her common-sense approach to people who want to live in positive mental health. Dr. Linda is also a bestselling author with 21 book titles to her credit, a radio host of the Dr. Linda Mintle show, professor, national speaker, winner of the Mom\u2019s Choice Award, a national news consultant, featured writer for Beliefnet and hosts her own website. Her academic appointments keep her abreast of current research in her areas of expertise. Her media experience includes seven years as the resident expert for ABC Family\u2019s Living the Life television show and regular appearances on network television and radio. It is often said that being with Dr. Linda is like having coffee with a friend. She makes the complicated issues of relationships and mental health easy to understand and applicable to everyday living. The ease she has with people, coupled with her clinical training and experience makes her a sought-after speaker on college campuses, conferences and special events. Whether she is doing a TV skit with Tim Conway or discussing teen violence with Queen Latifa, Dr. Linda will entertain, educate and integrate faith and mental health in everyday living. Check out her latest book Hope and Healing for Anxiety, a whole-person approach to eliminate anxiety. .","sameAs":["https:\/\/drlindamintle.com\/","https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/drlindamintle\/","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/drlindamintle\/","https:\/\/x.com\/drlindamintle"],"url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/author\/lmintle"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23856","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/419"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23856"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23856\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23904,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23856\/revisions\/23904"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23856"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23856"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23856"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}