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A little cynicism may be healthy, but too much can lead to dementia

That’s what Finnish researchers say, if you believe them that is.

ARE YOU A cynical person? You may feel that a little cynicism is healthy and stops people taking advantage of you, but a new Finnish study has found that elderly people with high levels of cynical distrust are more likely to develop dementia.

The study which was carried out by the University of Eastern Finland and published in the American Academy of Neurology found that cynical people are three times more likely than trusting people to develop dementia.

The study worked by giving 1,449 people with an average age of 71 tests for dementia and a questionnaire to measure their level of cynicism.

The questionnaire has been shown to be reliable, and people’s scores tend to remain stable over periods of several years.

People were asked how much they agree with statements such as “I think most people would lie to get ahead”, “it is safer to trust nobody” and “most people will use somewhat unfair reasons to gain profit or an advantage rather than lose it”.

Based on their scores, participants were grouped in low, moderate and high levels of cynical distrust.

A total of 622 people completed two tests for dementia, with the last one an average of eight years after the study started. During that time, 46 people were diagnosed with dementia.

Once researchers adjusted for other factors that could affect dementia risk, such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol and smoking, people with high levels of cynical distrust were three times more likely to develop dementia than people with low levels of cynicism.

Of the 164 people with high levels of cynicism, 14 people developed dementia, compared to nine of the 212 people with low levels of cynicism.

Read: What’s the difference between Alzheimer’s Disease and dementia? >

Read: There is only one respite bed per 450 people with dementia in Ireland >

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34 Comments
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    Mute BlueSkyThinking
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    May 29th 2014, 7:19 AM

    Bad news for a lot of Journal commentators!

    163
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    Mute Justin Gillespie
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    May 29th 2014, 7:27 AM

    Not to mention Shinners, People before Profit, Austerity Alliance, Socialist Party etc etc.

    Come over to the bright side lads & lassies, where the glass is always half full, the sun is about to shine & good mental health is a given.

    49
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    Mute mmz
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    May 29th 2014, 7:56 AM

    Its a good time to buy a house, be optimistic, believe the government, avoid dementia. Be in negative equity in five years, be unable to pay your bills, get depressed take pills, go to the mental hospital – but you have avoided dementia. See how good capitalism is for you.

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    Mute John Deegan
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    May 29th 2014, 8:24 AM

    You are displaying “high levels of cynicism”. I hereby diagnose you with “Failure to love the system disorder”. Please pump yourself full of these psychoactive poisons. Note side effects include death a desire to shoot innocent people.

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    Mute Donal Buckley
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    May 29th 2014, 12:39 PM

    I’ve forgotten what this thread is about…

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    Mute Maurice
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    May 29th 2014, 4:12 PM

    Blueskythinking: But we love ‘em dearly for it though….

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    Mute ragnar daneskold
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    May 29th 2014, 11:03 PM

    4 kinds of people in this world.
    The glass is half full
    The glass is half empty
    The glass is….er…..uhm…..errr…What was the question again?
    Hey! I orderd a feckin cheese burger!!!”

    Cynicism just a nasty way of telling the truth

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    Mute theresa parker
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    May 29th 2014, 7:28 AM

    Rubbish report….my mother in law is showing no signs of dementia!

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    Mute Jarlath Murphy
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    May 29th 2014, 7:28 AM

    I personally wouldn’t believe a word of it!

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    Mute Justin Gillespie
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    May 29th 2014, 7:32 AM

    All you have to do is read a lot of the posts on journal.ie.

    The evidence is there, plain as day, for all to see.

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    Mute John Deegan
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    May 29th 2014, 7:52 AM

    There it is with a pseudoscientific rubber stamp. Be happy with your lot. Don’t question things. Accept that everything is good. If you don’t you are heading for insanity. Seriously “high levels of cynicism”. It sounds like medical quackery from the 18th century like “bad humours must be released forthwith”. And 14 out out 164 developed dementia vs 9 out of 212 didn’t? Wow conclusive statistics. They should get onto the pseudoscientific field of psychiatry where in the latest DRM manual such mental conditions as “oppositional defiant disorder” exist. Imagine a distrust if authority is now a mental illness. I have no doubt the quacks performing this “study” robbed the taxpayer of enough cash to justify such a silly conclusion.

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    Mute Michael G O'Reilly
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    May 29th 2014, 8:40 AM

    Are you a cynic ?!?!?

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    Mute Emily Elephant
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    May 29th 2014, 9:22 AM

    Or it’s possible that distrusting authority is both rational and bad for your mental health. There’s some evidence that being religious is associated with longer life expectancy. Doesn’t mean that gods exist.

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    Mute John Deegan
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    May 29th 2014, 9:55 AM

    Are you a psychiatrist???

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    Mute Donal Buckley
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    May 29th 2014, 12:34 PM

    Anyone who goes to a psychiatrist needs his/ her head examined.

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    Mute ragnar daneskold
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    May 29th 2014, 11:10 PM

    They proably got the idea from the old Soviet Union s political hospitals.Logic being if you complained in a dictatorship you were obviously nuts.So if you continously rebelled or complained about the perfect Soviet system,it was patiently obvious that you were mentally unstable and were locked up in a political looney bin someplace out in Siberia. For your own good of course.This sounds like the new version.Scare people into thinking if you dont see sunshine ,unicorns and lollipops at the rainbow every morning you will get dementia and you will have to be taken away to the modern version of the cuckoo nest.

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    Mute Phyllis Murphy
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    May 29th 2014, 7:25 AM

    What a load of…

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    Mute Justin Gillespie
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    May 29th 2014, 7:28 AM

    Now now Phyllis,

    You’re starting to lose it……..

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    Mute HULK SMASH!
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    May 29th 2014, 7:45 AM

    Wow big finnish braniacs think cynicism will cause dementia! I’m not buying this mumbo jumbo from a couple of quango scientists who are justifying their over inflated salaries.

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    Mute Avina Laaf
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    May 29th 2014, 7:51 AM

    Its all part of a CIA plot I tells ya!!

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    Mute mmz
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    May 29th 2014, 8:03 AM

    Finland has about the highest suicide rate in the world. Can this study be trusted (sorry I am being a bit cynical there – I can feel the dementia coming on…..) given the particular societal and psychological landscape in Finland. Best vodka in the world though.

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    Mute Ian Mac Eochagáin
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    May 29th 2014, 8:50 AM

    And the study came from a newly-formed “University” that used to be the equivalent of an IT, as far as I’m aware.

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    Mute Ian Mac Eochagáin
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    May 29th 2014, 8:53 AM

    What an unfair study! While I don’t agree with “it’s safer to trust nobody”, I think that most people do lie to get ahead, if only a little, and that people do use dishonest means to hold on to power. How is agreeing with these last two cynical? It’s just a common-sense assessment of the world we live in!

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    Mute Richard Sweeney
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    May 29th 2014, 7:24 AM

    scheisse

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    Mute Constance Markievicz
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    May 29th 2014, 8:13 AM

    Another politically motivated attack against Sinn Fein. The people of this country have a right to be cynical against this government committing ethnic cleansing against it’s own people.

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    Mute Emily Elephant
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    May 29th 2014, 9:26 AM

    Should we be cynical about the fact that there’s no sign of any such study at the published link?

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    Mute Brian O' Connor
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    May 29th 2014, 11:58 AM

    A realist is a cynic to a romantic.

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    Mute J. Dunn
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    May 29th 2014, 10:01 AM

    I tend to take reports like this with a grain of salt. If the dementia doesn’t get me maybe the high blood pressure will.

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    Mute Ian Mac Eochagáin
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    May 29th 2014, 1:34 PM

    Brilliant!

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    Mute Stephen
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    May 29th 2014, 8:33 AM

    If it’s true then, monkey arse biscuits my lord .

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    Mute Gavin
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    May 29th 2014, 7:51 AM

    Of which Richard Dawkins may be crowned the king of cynicism: http://youtu.be/51rR4aC9aMg

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    Mute Mary Kavanagh
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    May 29th 2014, 10:21 AM

    If you changed the subjects of those questions to politicians I’d answer yes to them but not in general.
    Also I’m confused because in one paragraph it says 1,449 were given the Alzheimer test and a questionnaire on their cynicism level. But further down it says that a total of 622 were tested for Alzheimer’s twice with an eight year interval. I don’t understand how 1,449 becomes 622. Are they the same people or different? I must be missing something here!

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    Mute Brianog2
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    May 29th 2014, 10:33 AM

    Does anyone think that Vincent Brown is slipping a bit.Mixing up his words,and forgetting punch lones

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    Mute Brianog2
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    May 29th 2014, 10:33 AM

    Lines

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