The death of a partner or financial stress can increase the risk of Alzheimer's.

BarcelonaThe stress caused by traumatic events, such as the loss of a partner or financial problems, triggers changes in the brain that are linked to Alzheimer's, according to a study by the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), a center supported by the La Caixa Foundation, and the Barcelona Beta Brain Research Center (BBRC), affiliated with the Pasqua Foundation. The results, published in the journal Neurology, suggest that grieving for the loss of a partner, having a low educational level, and being unemployed are factors that increase the risk of suffering from alterations associated with this disease. However, the researchers emphasize that there are differences in the brain's response to stressful life events depending on whether the affected person is male or female.

The analysis attempted to determine differences in the volume of brain gray matter and some unequivocal Alzheimer's biomarkers in the cerebrospinal fluid, such as beta amyloid protein, in 1,200 participants. None of them suffered cognitive impairment, but they did have a family history of dementia. The study's first author, Eleni Palpatzis, states that they focused on finding the relationship between stress and brain changes, and among 13 life events they studied, three produced notable brain changes that would increase the risk of suffering from Alzheimer's: losing a partner, being in the... The latter is the factor that has the greatest impact on the brain, says Palpatzis in conversation with ARA.

To put it simply, the changes in the brain linked to Alzheimer's can occur years before the first symptoms appear. For example, a lower proportion of beta amyloid or higher levels of phosphorylated phosphate, which causes neuronal damage, or neurogranin, which increases when connections between neurons are lost, are observed. According to the study, participants who had lost a romantic partner due to death presented alterations in both groups of proteins. In contrast, unemployment in the case of men and economic loss in the case of women were associated with the loss of gray matter.

According to Palpatzis, men suffer more stress with the loss of a partner because they tend to have fewer social ties than women, and with unemployment due to social expectations. On the other hand, women are more affected by economic difficulties because many also have to take on unpaid housework and care work.

The impact of inequalities

Among the most notable results is that study participants with lower educational levels showed more brain changes due to stress. Palpatzis asserts that this fact ties in with previous studies showing that low socioeconomic status is a factor that increases the risk of dementia, a general term for the loss of mental abilities, of which Alzheimer's is the most common cause. According to the researcher, the same is true for the loss of a partner: only people who can access therapy or maintain social relationships during grief experience less stress and are at lower risk of Alzheimer's.

"You can't decide whether or not to lose your partner, but you can find ways to manage the loss to reduce stress levels," Palpatzis asserts. The researcher emphasizes the importance of trying to control stress, explaining that 45% of dementia cases are preventable if people maintain a healthy lifestyle during youth. For example, by not smoking, exercising regularly, and not consuming alcohol excessively, among other habits. Furthermore, the researcher asserts that people in old age should also try to maintain social relationships and avoid breathing polluted air.