Washington [US]June 16 (ANI): Individuals with at least two of the diseases, including type 2 diabetes, heart disease or stroke, are twice as likely to develop dementia.
Prevention of diabetes and cardiovascular disease can therefore be a strategy to reduce the risk of dementia, suggests a study from Karolinska Institutet in Sweden published in the journal Alzheimer’s Dementia.
Type 2 diabetes, heart disease (ischemic heart disease, heart failure or atrial fibrillation) and stroke – so-called cardiometabolic diseases – are some of the main risk factors for dementia.
– Few studies have examined how the risk of dementia is affected by having more than one of these diseases at the same time, so that was what we wanted to investigate in our study, says Abigail Dove, doctoral student at Aging Research Center, part of the Department of Neurobiology, Caring Sciences and society, Karolinska Institutet.
Dementia develops slowly over decades. It first appears as a gradual cognitive decline that only shows up in cognitive tests. It then degenerates into cognitive impairment where the individual notices his failing memory but can still take care of himself, and finally to a full-scale dementia.
More than one cardiometabolic disease doubles the risk. The researchers produced data from the Swedish national study on aging and care for a total of 2,500 healthy, dementia-free individuals over the age of 60 who live on Kungsholmen in Stockholm. At the beginning of the study, the incidence of cardiometabolic diseases was evaluated through medical records and clinical examination. The participants were then followed for twelve years with medical examinations and cognitive tests in order to follow changes in cognitive ability and the development of dementia.
The presence of more than one cardiometabolic disease accelerated the rate of cognitive decline and doubled the risk of cognitive impairment and dementia, accelerating their development by two years. The extent of the risk increased with a larger number of diseases.
“In our study, the combination of diabetes / heart disease and diabetes / heart disease / stroke was the most detrimental to cognitive function,” says Dove.
Important to prevent a second disease. However, individuals who only had one cardiometabolic disease did not show a significantly higher risk of dementia.
“This is good news. The study shows that the risk only increases when someone has at least two of the diseases, so it is possible that dementia can be prevented by preventing the development of a second disease.” The correlation between cardiometabolic diseases and the risk of dementia was stronger among the participants who were under 78 years of age.
“We should therefore focus on the prevention of heart metabolic diseases already in middle age because the risk of cognitive failure and dementia is higher among those who develop a cardiometabolic disease earlier in life,” says Dove. (ANI)