Study shows what triggers dementia
Dementia in later life can be triggered by diabetes, high blood pressure and smoking in middle age, research shows
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Tuesday, 04, Aug 2009 12:06
Dementia in later life is far more likely if middle aged people smoke, have high blood pressure or diabetes, new research shows.
The Alzheimer's Society claims there are 700,000 people in the UK with some form of dementia, and more than half have Alzheimer's disease, with one in three people over 65 dying with dementia.
Research published ahead of print today in the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry said people should consider modifying their lifestyle in middle age to avoid dementia in later life.
The US-based research studied more than 11,000 people aged 46-70 who were participants in the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) study in 1990-92.
The participants were tracked over the years, and after following their progress, the researchers identified 203 cases of hospitalisation with dementia. Smoking, high blood pressure and diabetes were all strongly associated with dementia in white participants and African-Americans.
The authors, from the universities of Minnesota, North Carolina and Johns Hopkins and the University of Mississippi Medical Centre, say the results suggest smoking cessation and prevention or control of high blood pressure and diabetes starting in midlife may have the added benefit of decreasing dementia hospitalisation risk.
They concluded: "Our results emphasise the importance of early lifestyle modification and risk factor treatment to prevent dementia."
Current smokers were 70 per cent more likely than those who had never smoked to develop dementia, people with high blood pressure were 60 per cent more likely than those without high blood pressure, and people with diabetes were more than twice as likely than those without diabetes to develop it.
However, contrary to previous research, no link was found between obesity and dementia in later life.
The Alzheimer's society said: "Dementia is one of people's biggest fears in later life but very few people realise that there are things they can do to reduce their risk of developing this devastating condition.
"This study adds weight to the growing evidence that a healthy heart means a healthy brain. Evidence suggests that the best way to reduce your risk of developing dementia is to keep active, eat a balanced diet, don't smoke and to get your blood pressure and cholesterol checked regularly.
"Although this study did not find a link between obesity and dementia, other research has found that it is important to keep a healthy weight."
The researchers found overall, African-Americans had a two and a half times higher rate of hospitalisation than white people and African-American women in particular had the highest rates of all.