“If you wish to have an active mind in your old age there is only principle – don’t worry, be happy”, say researchers.

According to a recent research study one who is prone to worry, anxiety or depression is at high risk of developing mild cognitive impairment (MCI), which further leads to Alzheimer’s disease.

“MCI is now recognized as a very early sign of incipient Alzheimer’s disease,” said Robert S. Wilson, lead author of the research study. “We found that among healthy elderly people without evidence of cognitive dysfunction at the beginning of the study, chronic distress predicted the development of MCI.”

Anyway, the researchers say the people who are under stress need not worry too much about these findings. It’s because 50% of individuals with MCI do not develop dementia.

This study was conducted on 1,256 people with no signs of cognitive impairment or depression. They were evaluated every year for 12 years. During this time, 482 people – almost 38% – developed mild cognitive impairment.

Those who experienced negative emotions quite often were more than 40% more likely to develop MCI than those who suffer less by negative emotions. This shows that chronic psychological distress increases the risk for MCI.

However, the health experts have to find out the neurobiological reasons on how psychological distress can increase the risk of Alzheimer’s. When they find it out, it becomes easy to find out ways to prevent or delay the onset of symptoms.

So, people… please wait till they come up with some solutions. Even till that time BE HAPPY, this is the best solution.