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Being a cynic linked to tripled risk of developing dementia, Finland study suggests
The Daily Telegraph, National Post Wire Services | ^ | Sarah Knapton

Posted on 05/29/2014 1:34:42 PM PDT by BBell

Cynics are three times more likely to develop dementia than those who have faith in humanity, a study has shown.

Believing that others are motivated by selfishness, or that they lie to get what they want, appears to radically increase the risk of cognitive decline in later life.

It could mean that grumpy old men and women should be screened more closely for diseases such as Alzheimer’s. Cynicism has previously been linked to health problems such as heart disease, but this is the first time it has been associated with dementia.

“These results add to the evidence that people’s view on life and personality may have an impact on their health,” said Dr. Anna-Maija Tolppanen, the lead researcher at the University of Eastern Finland, whose study is published online in the journal Neurology.

Academics asked nearly 1,500 people with an average age of 71 to fill out a questionnaire to measure their levels of cynicism.

They were asked how much they agreed with statements such as “I think most people would lie to get ahead”, “it is safer to trust nobody” and “most people will use somewhat unfair reasons to gain profit or an advantage rather than lose it.”

Those taking part were monitored for eight years, during which time 46 of them were diagnosed with dementia. The academics discovered that those who had scored highly for cynicism were three times more likely to have developed dementia than those with low scores.

(Excerpt) Read more at news.nationalpost.com ...


TOPICS: Health/Medicine; Society
KEYWORDS: andyrooneyexplained; cynic; dementia; finland
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To: real saxophonist

Obviously, someone was targeting MY water glass. Probably someone in the Obama administration.


41 posted on 05/29/2014 2:13:53 PM PDT by MrB (The difference between a Humanist and a Satanist - the latter admits whom he's working for)
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To: BBell

What’s my name again. Why am I posting here?


42 posted on 05/29/2014 2:15:00 PM PDT by JimSEA
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To: Night Hides Not

I’ve found that life is a whole lot less aggravating ones I learned to let things roll off my back.


43 posted on 05/29/2014 2:18:48 PM PDT by cripplecreek (Remember the River Raisin.)
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To: real saxophonist

If the glass is half empty, who stole the other half?

************
The guy I trusted too much.


44 posted on 05/29/2014 2:18:53 PM PDT by Starboard
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To: BBell

I don’t believe a word of whatever we were talking about


45 posted on 05/29/2014 2:20:46 PM PDT by Larry Lucido
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To: BBell
should be screened more closely for diseases such as Alzheimer’s.

There is no good way to screen for Alzheimer’s unless you kill them first and then do an autopsy. You can only screen for dementia (various causes).

46 posted on 05/29/2014 2:21:59 PM PDT by steve86 ( Acerbic by nature, not nurture)
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To: dadfly

Excellent take on this “study”.

I smell a hidden agenda to get more funding for something.


47 posted on 05/29/2014 2:24:48 PM PDT by Starboard
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To: BBell

Pardon me, but I dont believe in this ‘scientific’ study of ...of...of... Well, it was something important I’m sure of that.


48 posted on 05/29/2014 2:32:16 PM PDT by wildbill
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To: BBell
In other words, concocted justification for throwing political opponents into sanatoriums.

They MUST be crazy to oppose liberal policies. Everybody KNOWS that, right? The longer they've held these beliefs, the crazier they are!

-PJ

49 posted on 05/29/2014 2:33:09 PM PDT by Political Junkie Too (If you are the Posterity of We the People, then you are a Natural Born Citizen.)
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To: BBell
I am a cynic. There are a lot of cynics here at FR. It's hard not to be a cynic in this day and age.
I see the difference between 1910 liberalism and 1930 “liberalism” as the difference between having faith and being a cynic: Theodore Roosevelt famously asserted that
"It is not the critic who counts . . . the credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena . . . who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds . . . 
The meaning of “liberalism” was inverted, according to Safire’s New Political Dictionary, in the 1920s. So now, “liberalism” means the attitude expressed by Fauxcohantas or by Barak Obama:
If you’ve got a business, you didn’t build that. Somebody else made that happen.
The latter quotation is pure cynicism in comparison to the former one.

50 posted on 05/29/2014 2:34:18 PM PDT by conservatism_IS_compassion ("Liberalism” is a conspiracy against the public by wire-service journalism.)
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To: BBell

Most of these “studies” are worth nothing. They aren’t even valid science.


51 posted on 05/29/2014 2:39:36 PM PDT by I want the USA back (Media: completely irresponsible. Complicit in the destruction of this country.)
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To: Political Junkie Too

In other words, concocted justification for throwing political opponents into sanatoriums.

**************

Exactly. Skeptics are dangerous to the existing order and prevailing liberal orthodoxy. Such political heretics must be institutionalized.


52 posted on 05/29/2014 2:50:22 PM PDT by Starboard
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To: BurningOak

The other possibility is that cynics don’t have as many close friends, and the lack of strong social connections is correlated to decreased life expectancy. The personality trait causes the lack of social connections.
Or they suffered the loss of partners and family members early, making them cynical. In that case, the personality trait is caused by the environment. The symptom - cynicism - is then blamed as the cause of shorter life expectancy.


53 posted on 05/29/2014 3:59:56 PM PDT by tbw2
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To: BBell

I’m in big trouble....


54 posted on 05/29/2014 4:56:05 PM PDT by Intolerant in NJ
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To: BBell

Ruh, roh. I’m worried now, although I can’t remember about what.


55 posted on 05/29/2014 6:33:32 PM PDT by Pearls Before Swine
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To: BBell
I'm already in the middle stages of Irish Alzheimer’s...all you can remember are the grudges.
56 posted on 05/29/2014 7:21:43 PM PDT by Gay State Conservative (Rat Party Policy:Lie,Deny,Refuse To Comply)
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