The stress faced by caregivers of spouses with memory problems is linked to negative effects on physical and mental health, including dementia and Alzheimer’s disease, according to new research.
The study is one of the first to examine how cellular health may affect the well-being of caregivers of spouses with dementia who are experiencing significant daily stress.
“This work builds on our previous research on chronic stress and immunity by highlighting the crucial role of cellular health in the mind-body connection,” said Chris Fagundes, professor of psychological sciences at Rice University and one of the study’s authors.
“We have found that chronic stress affects not only immune function but also the health of individual cells, suggesting a deeper and more complex relationship between our mental state and our physical well-being.”
Specifically, researchers are studying the link between mitochondria (which are, in essence, the engines that power individual cells) and mental and physical health. The energy produced by mitochondria is needed for people to perform everyday activities such as walking, shopping, or driving. One way to measure a person’s cellular health is to determine how much energy they have left after performing these activities.
Fagundes compared cellular health to the fuel efficiency of a car.
“The more energy or fuel you have left after a ride, the better performance you’ve had or how well things are going for you,” he says. “As far as the health of your cells, it’s pretty much the same.”
Just as cars lose fuel efficiency over time, it is normal for cells to have less energy remaining as a person ages. Chronic stress situations, such as caring for a loved one, also negatively affect cellular health. However, some people’s cells are naturally more resilient to aging and stress than others.
Researchers found that caregivers with less cellular energy to spare were less able to perform physical activities such as walking and carrying groceries than caregivers with more cellular energy to spare. They also found that these caregivers experienced fewer positive emotions (such as feelings of enthusiasm, inspiration, and alertness) compared to caregivers with more cellular energy.
While more excess cellular energy is associated with better mental and physical health outcomes, less excess cellular energy is linked to increased inflammation, which can lead to a range of negative mental and physical health issues, including eventual diagnosis of diseases such as dementia or Alzheimer’s.
Researchers say they hope the findings from this study may lead to the development of pharmaceutical or therapeutic interventions targeting cellular health, which may allow caregivers to avoid negative results that may result from the stress they face.
The study appears in the journal Psychosomatic Medicine.
Other co-authors come from Rice, Baylor College of Medicine, the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston and the University of Houston.
Fountain: Rice University
