Having a good partner may stave off cognitive decline
23 February, 2020
A happy partner may indeed mean a happy life, but what if it can help with physical and mental health in later years, too? A fresh study suggests that it could do just this.
Does your partner start to see the glass as half full or half empty? Do they have a tendency to expect things to turn out for the best or the worst?
Researchers at Michigan State University in East Lansing have discovered that by having an optimistic outlook, an individual can help the long-term physical and mental health of their partner.
Such may be the power of optimism that it can benefit stave off the chance of various medical issues, such as for example cognitive decline, dementia, and Alzheimer’s disease, as a couple grows old together.
That is a boon considering that most industrialized societies are aging. According to the Population Reference Bureau (PRB), in america alone, the number of folks aged 65 years and older hit a new most of 52 million in 2018. The PRB predict that this number will practically double by 2060.
Not just that, but there are 5.8 million persons in the U.S. coping with Alzheimer’s disease - the most frequent kind of dementia - and someone develops the condition every 65 seconds.
“[M]any industrialized societies are aging at an extremely fast rate. This presents various challenges that we might not be ready for,” said Dr. William Chopik, talking with Medical News Today.
Dr. Chopik is a co-author of the brand new study, which appears in the Journal of Personality.
Furthermore, he noted that persons are living longer than ever before, “which translates to a big number of individuals coping with cognitive impairment and dementia.”
“As a result,” he said, “we were motivated to learn what predicts cognitive decline, and we uncovered that the majority of it has to do with you, however, many of it also is due to your romantic partner.”
Identifying the link
The analysis followed 4,457 heterosexual couples from medical and Retirement Study for 8 years.
It showed that there was a potential link between marriage to an optimist and preventing cognitive decline.
But how does optimism - the overall expectation that good things will happen later on - in somebody affect long-term mental health?
“Optimists do a variety of healthy things,” said Chopik. “They are more physically active, maintain healthy diets, and prevent harmful things [such as drugs and alcohol].”
“A whole lot of it has to do not only with optimists thinking that these efforts will translate to good outcomes but also they have control of these things, too. Optimists are the kind of persons who think that visiting the gym will probably be worth it, so they’ll often keep carrying it out!”
- Dr. William Chopik
Optimists lead by example, and partners often follow their lead, says Chopik, noting that persons typically spend a lot of time with their partner.
Researchers found that in looking at predictors for Alzheimer’s disease or other types of dementia, a lot revolve around lifestyle choices.
“Compromised health earlier in life, in combo with some genetic factors, is probably the major preventable risk factors for cognitive decline,” said Chopik.
“So, basically, we realize that being physically healthier - for example, being more physically active, eating a healthy diet plan, being more mobile, avoiding major illnesses - is connected with reduced risk for cognitive decline.”
“But we were most considering what predicted the healthy living. As it happens being optimistic about the future helps a lot.”
Can people become more optimistic?
While optimism is apparently heritable, Dr. Chopik highlights that some studies have displayed that people have the energy to change their personality by participating in things that make them change, let's assume that they have the will to take action.
“People can change in optimism quite a bit,” said Dr. Chopik.
“They are able to experience large changes over the lifespan, especially after important life events. There is some research to recommend that optimism could be increased through interventions. However, that work is still in its infancy.”
Finding out the simplest way to develop interventions for people is what the researchers are concentrating on next.
The question they are considering is: Why is optimism special?
“We feel that it is due to feeling as if you have control over your life (and that it’ll bring good outcomes). But maybe rather than increasing optimism, we are able to make an effort to increase people’s perceptions of control,” said Chopik.
“Likewise, how will you motivate a spouse to live a healthier lifestyle? There are likely ways that translate to success, and there are different ways that could massively backfire and hurt a relationship! The main element is to find specifically how spouses can nudge the other person to live healthier lives.”
The scientists conclude within their paper that further research can help turn optimism right into a helpful intervention for adults who wish to maintain good cognitive health because they age.
Source: www.medicalnewstoday.com