Staying optimistic can reduce your risk of dementia, researchers say

WASHINGTON - The seemingly inexorable and possibly hereditary drift into dementia has left many people wondering if any preventive measures or stalling tactics can make a difference.

Various teams of doctors and scientists believe they have found that keeping fit in middle age, learning languages, eating a healthy Mediterranean diet and getting enough vitamin D could tip the scales away from dementia onset.

Whatever the case, people should not let the prospect of cognitive decline get them down. Staying optimistic could itself help stave off dementia onset, according to new research carried out at Harvard University.

"Higher optimism is associated with a lower risk of developing dementia," the team said in a paper published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, describing a rosy disposition as a potential "protective psychosocial factor."

The research was based on data from and follow-up assessments of around 9,000 people over 14 years, with the analysis and questionnaires suggesting that optimism has a "robust" link to dementia prevention.

The Harvard researchers found that those with a more sanguine outlook had a 15% lower risk of developing dementia after adjusting for age, sex, race, ethnicity, education, depression and other major health conditions.

The team sought to account for reverse causality - the possibility that indications of or worries about dementia onset could understandably leave even a usually cheerful person feeling down and in turn exacerbate cognitive decline.

The researchers conceded that it is "not clear exactly" how the findings can be used as part of "future dementia prevention initiatives," recommending future research into the matter given the dearth of "effective treatments" for the condition, which affects an estimated 57 million people worldwide.

Previously published research suggests a link between depression and dementia, while other work found that people who reported loneliness while young were more likely than others to face the dread-inducing prospect of developing Alzheimer's disease as aging takes hold.

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This story was originally published April 21, 2026 at 4:44 AM.