Free Republic

WASHINGTON - Pessimistic, anxious and depressed people may have a higher risk of dementia, U.S. researchers reported Thursday. A study of a group of 3,500 people showed that those who scored high for pessimism on a standardized personality test had a 30 percent increased risk of developing dementia 30 to 40 years later. Those scoring very high on both anxiety and pessimism scales had a 40 percent higher risk, the study showed. “There appears to be a dose-response pattern, i.e., the higher the scores, the higher the risk of dementia,” Dr. Yonas Geda, a neuropsychiatrist at the Mayo Clinic in...