Multiple lifestyle factors can increase the risk of early-onset dementia, according to new research.
Early-onset dementia, or early-onset dementia, occurs when symptoms of dementia appear before age 65.
New research published last month JAMA Neurologyhas identified 15 major risk factors that can increase your risk of developing this condition. Modifiable and/or preventable risk factors include orthostatic hypotension (lower blood pressure when rising from a sitting or lying position), depression, and alcohol use disorder.
Other risk factors are difficult or impossible to modify, such as low socioeconomic status and inheriting two copies of the apolipoprotein E gene, the ε4 allele (APOE4).
The new study followed more than 350,000 people under the age of 65 from UK Biobank, a large biomedical database, to gain insight into the risk of early dementia. After analyzing a wide range of factors, from genetic influences to environmental factors, we were able to identify key factors that increase the risk of early-onset dementia.
“All of these factors increase the risk of dementia because they ultimately lead to the same basic mechanisms that threaten the brain,” says David Perlmutter, MD, FACN, ABIHM, a board-certified neurologist. He is a best-selling author and a researcher in the United States.The University of Nutrition reported health.
“These mechanisms include inflammation [and] “There is an increase in the activity of harmful chemicals called free radicals,” he said.
Perhaps most importantly, Perlmutter explained, all of these factors threaten the brain’s metabolism. This means that these factors influence how the brain can use glucose to power cells.
“Dementia, especially Alzheimer’s disease, is the result of decreased brain metabolism,” he says.
Here are some lifestyle and health factors that contribute to early-onset dementia, and ways to lower your risk of developing early-onset dementia.
The findings provide healthcare providers with further information on how to prevent early-onset dementia, which affects hundreds of thousands of people each year.
The Alzheimer’s Association estimates that between 220,000 and 640,000 people in the United States are diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s disease or related dementias each year.
This type of dementia tends to be more aggressive than dementia that develops later in life, said Dr. Schneider, a behavioral neurologist, neuropsychiatrist, and assistant professor of psychiatry and neurology at Yale School of Medicine. said Arman Fesharaki Zadeh, MD. health.
Therefore, addressing modifiable risk factors early should be a top priority.
Dr. Fesharaki-Zadeh explained that if these 15 risk factors are addressed, the risk of early-onset and late-onset dementia is likely to be significantly reduced.
“The authors cite the following 2020 report: [the] lancet “The Dementia Prevention Committee supported the argument that eliminating modifiable risk factors, such as metabolic risk factors, can reduce the likelihood of dementia,” he said.
Of the 39 risk factors analyzed, the research team identified 15 important factors that significantly increased the risk of early-onset dementia.
These risk factors include:
- lower education
- lower socio-economic status
- Two copies of the APOE4 gene
- alcohol use disorder
- social isolation
- vitamin D deficiency
- High C-reactive protein levels
- Decreased grip strength
- alcohol free
- Hearing impairment
- Diabetes
- Heart disease
- depression
- orthostatic hypotension
- stroke
Interestingly, the lifestyle issues that threaten the brains of young people are the same that trigger dementia in older people.
“We know that metabolic disorders such as diabetes are increasingly moving into younger people, and how threatening this metabolic problem is to the brain, so it’s surprising to learn that dementia is occurring in young people. It shouldn’t be done,” Perlmutter said.
Additionally, Fesharaki-Zadeh explained that the factors outlined by the researchers have some degree of interdependence.
“For example, people with alcohol use disorders are more likely to have malnutrition and vitamin deficiencies, frailty, muscle weakness, and even neuropsychiatric disorders such as depression,” he said. “Such people are more likely to develop metabolic disorders such as high blood pressure, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and stroke.”
Similarly, these people may have higher levels of C-reactive protein due to a higher pro-inflammatory state. Underlying depression can also lead to self-isolation and alcohol use disorder as a behavioral coping strategy.
These behavioral patterns can ultimately lead to a variety of chronic medical conditions such as high blood pressure, diabetes and stroke, Fesharaki-Zadeh explained.
Fesharaki-Zadeh said of non-modifiable risk factors, such as having two copies of the APOE4 gene. health This means that about 25% of the population has at least one copy of the gene.
“Patients with APOE have a well-established risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease,” he said. “More specifically, a person who has one copy of APOE4 is three times more likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease, and if he has two copies of APOE4, the risk is 12 times more likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease. It could double.”
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), approximately 40% of all Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias can be prevented or delayed by modifying lifestyle factors and preventing chronic diseases such as diabetes and high blood pressure. may be possible.
Messrs. Fesharaki Zadeh and Perlmutter said: health Based on the researchers’ results and previous research, they recommend that people engage in physical exercise to help prevent dementia.
This means sitting less and moving more.
“The practice of daily vigorous physical exercise has a wide range of benefits, including enhanced neurocognitive function, due to its established effects on neurogenesis (the formation of new neurons and new synapses) and angiogenesis (the formation of new blood vessels). It has a well-known and well-established effect on mood,” Fesharaki-Zadeh said.
He also suggests people eat a Mediterranean-based diet and learn cognitive, mood, and social stimulation techniques.
“Cognitive stimulation can also be in the form of formal educational training. [developing] “It’s about forming lifelong learning habits, habits like learning a new language, attending seminars, learning music and dance,” he said.
Mood stimulation may include regular stress-reduction practices such as mindfulness or yoga, but social stimulation is essential for overall mental, cognitive, and physical health.
“In times of pandemic and post-pandemic times, high-quality social connections should be increasingly encouraged and practiced,” Fesharaki Zadeh explained.
Perlmutter, on the other hand, recommends that even if you don’t have diabetes, keep a close eye on your blood sugar levels and get enough sleep to restore your resilience.
“Our lifestyle choices have a huge impact on how our brains function in the future…Importantly, whether we have early-onset dementia or late-onset dementia, cognitive function “This means that a change that can be corrected is starting to occur 30 years before the change that occurs. It’s being recognized for the first time,” he said.
After all, now is the time to take precautions.