Dementia Risk

Easy-Going Personality Reduces Dementia Risk

By Crystal Phend, Staff Writer, MedPage Today Published: January 19, 2009 Reviewed by Zalman S. Agus, MD; Emeritus Professor  University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine.

STOCKHOLM, Sweden, Jan. 19 -- A relaxed approach to life may protect against dementia in older age regardless of social activity, researchers found. 

In a study of the Swedish population, older adults who were socially outgoing but not easily distressed by circumstances were 49% less likely to develop dementia over time than were people who were extroverted and neurotic.