In a large-scale study, 15 factors related to early dementia were identified
Although dementia is more common in the elderly, hundreds of thousands of people are diagnosed with early-onset dementia (YOD) each year. A new, rather extensive study sheds some light on the reason for this.
Most research in this area looks at genetics passed down between generations, but this time, the team of researchers also identified 15 different lifestyle and health factors that are associated with the risk of early-onset dementia.
"This is the largest and most robust study conducted in this direction. "It is interesting that this is the first study that shows that we can reduce the risk of this disease by taking certain actions if we target different factors," says David Llewellyn, an epidemiologist at the University of Exeter in the UK.
A group of researchers studied the data of 356,052 Britons under the age of 65. Low socioeconomic status, social isolation, hearing loss, stroke, diabetes, heart disease, and depression have all been found to be associated with a higher risk of early dementia.
High risk was also due to vitamin D deficiency and high levels of C-reactive protein (produced by the liver in response to inflammation) and having two variants of the ApoE4 ε4 gene (a genetic scenario already linked to Alzheimer's disease).
The link between early dementia and alcohol is described by researchers as "complex". While heavy drinking may increase risk, moderate to heavy drinking may be associated with a small risk—probably because people in this group tend to be generally healthier (note that those who abstain from alcohol often do so they do for medical reasons).
A higher level of formal education and less physical frailty were also found to be associated with a lower risk of early dementia. All of this helps to fill the current knowledge gap about early dementia.
"From people who develop dementia in old age, we already know that there are a number of modifiable risk factors. In addition to physical factors, physical factors also play an important role, including avoiding chronic stress, loneliness and depression," says neuroepidemiologist Sebastian Kohler of Maastricht University in the Netherlands.
While the results of this study do not prove that dementia is caused by these factors, they do help paint a more complete picture. As with all research of this kind, knowing more about the cause helps us create better treatments and preventative measures.
Many of these factors are modifiable, giving more hope to those working to defeat dementia rather than just manage it. Ultimately, it may turn out that we can reduce our risk of dementia by living a healthier lifestyle.
"Early dementia has a very serious impact because people who get it have jobs, busy lives and have children," says neuroscientist Stevie Hendricks at Maastricht University.
According to him, the cause is often considered to be genetics, but in the case of many people, the exact cause is unknown. That's why they wanted to look at other risk factors in this study.
The study was published in JAMA Neurology .
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