2024-05-08 17:27:53
Dementia is considered a disease of old age. But every year hundreds of thousands receive the diagnosis prematurely. Researchers found out who is at increased risk.
In Germany, 1.8 million people live with dementia. The risk of becoming ill increases with age. While less than three percent in the 65 to 70 year old age group develop Alzheimer’s dementia, around one in five people aged 85 and over and one in three people aged 90 and over are affected.
But dementia is also affecting more and more younger people. In Germany alone there are an estimated 100,000 people under the age of 65 who are sick. Dutch and British researchers examined which lifestyle and health factors increase the risk of dementia at a young age.
- You can read about the risk factors for dementia in old age here.
To do this, they analyzed data from 356,000 people under the age of 65 from the British directory UK Biobank. 55 percent were women, the average age was 54.6 years. During the observation period of eight to 15 years, 485 subjects were diagnosed with dementia. The scientists drew their conclusions from lifestyle and previous illnesses 15 risk factors for dementia at a younger age from (descending from those that posed the highest risk):
- Position-dependent drop in blood pressure (orthostatic hypotension), which occurs when suddenly standing up or an upright posture leads to a drop in blood pressure
- Depression
- Alcohol abuse
- stroke
- Genetic risk factors
- Social disadvantage
- Diabetes (men only)
- Heart disease
- Vitamin D Deficiency
- hearing loss
- High levels of C-reactive protein (CRP, an inflammatory marker)
- Social isolation
Three factors were associated with a lower risk of dementia:
- moderate alcohol consumption
- a higher level of education
- high handgrip strength (conversely, low physical frailty)
The researchers rated the connection between alcohol and early dementia in particular as “complex”. While alcohol abuse led to an increased risk, moderate to heavy alcohol consumption was associated with a reduced risk – possibly because people in this second group are generally healthier.
“Excitingly, it shows for the first time that we may be able to take action to reduce the risk of this debilitating disease by targeting a range of different factors,” University of Exeter epidemiologist and study author David Llewellyn told Sciencealert. .