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Sense of purpose may save intellect

A driven life could stave off Alzheimer's, a new study finds.

CHICAGO - A surprising study of elderly people suggests that those who see themselves as self-disciplined, organized achievers have a lower risk for developing Alzheimer's disease than people who are less conscientious.

A purposeful personality may somehow protect the brain, perhaps by increasing neural connections that can act as a reserve against mental decline, said study co-author Robert Wilson of Chicago's Rush University Medical Center.

Astoundingly, the brains of some of the dutiful people in the study were examined after their deaths and were found to have lesions that would meet accepted criteria for Alzheimer's - even though these people had shown no signs of dementia.

The new findings, appearing in Monday's Archives of General Psychiatry, come from an analysis of personality tests and medical exams of 997 older Catholic priests, nuns and brothers who participated in the Religious Orders Study.

At the start of the study, none of the participants showed signs of dementia. The average age was 75. Everyone took tests, including a standard personality test, then the researchers tracked them for 12 years, testing yearly for cognitive decline and dementia. Brain autopsies were performed on most of those who died.

During the 12 years, 176 people developed Alzheimer's disease. Those with the highest scores for a personality trait called "conscientiousness" at the start of the study had an 89 percent lower risk of developing Alzheimer's compared to people with the lowest scores for that personality trait.

When the researchers took into account a combination of risk factors, including smoking, inactivity and limited social connections, they still found that the dutiful people had a 54 percent lower risk of Alzheimer's compared to people with the lowest scores for conscientiousness.

Renee Goodwin of Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health was not involved in the new study but has done similar work.

"It's having self-discipline and energy, doing the healthy things," Goodwin said.

Because priests and nuns are an unusual group, the findings may not apply to the general population, Goodwin said, but she noted that there was a normal range of personality types among the participants.

[Last modified October 2, 2007, 01:47:14]