Study identifies risk factors for early onset dementia

Researchers followed 350,000 in database

A new study from researchers from the University of Exeter in England and Maastricht University in the Netherlands has identified 15 risk factors that contribute to developing young-onset dementia.

Young-onset or early-onset dementia is when someone younger the age of 65 develops the condition that causes memory loss.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, dementia “is a general term for conditions that cause loss of memory severe enough that they may impact a person’s ability to carry out daily activities.”

Alzheimer’s is believed to be the most common type of dementia. The CDC estimates that about 5.8 million people in the U.S. have Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias, including 5.6 million aged 65 and older and about 200,000 younger than age 65 with younger-onset Alzheimer’s.

That number is expected to increase to an estimated 14 million people by 2060 and was highest in minority communities, the CDC said.

How the study was conducted

Researchers followed more than 350,000 people younger than the age of 65 in the UK Biobank, a large biomedical database, to try to understand risk factors for dementia. The results were published Dec. 26 in JAMA Neurology.

At the baseline assessment between 2006 and 2010, participants did not have a dementia diagnosis. Researchers followed them until March 31, 2021, for England and Scotland, and Feb. 28, 2018, for Wales.

Some of the data researchers looked at were biological samples, socioeconomic status, education, alcohol and drug use, psychiatric data, environmental exposure to toxins, and general health information.

Researchers analyzed several risks including environmental and genetic factors and found that out of 39 possible risk factors, 15 were “significantly associated” with a higher risk of early-onset dementia.

The 15 risk factors

The 15 risk factors researchers determined were “significantly associated” with developing dementia early were: Lower formal education. Lower socioeconomic status. The presence of 2 apolipoprotein E4 allele.

Complete abstinence from alcohol. Alcohol use disorder.

Social isolation.

Vitamin D deficiency.

High levels of C-reactive protein. Reduced handgrip strength. Hearing impairment. Orthostatic hypotension. Stroke.

Diabetes.

Heart disease. Depression.

“All of these factors increase dementia risk as they all lead to the same fundamental mechanisms that ultimately threaten the brain,” David Perlmutter, a board-certified neurologist, best-selling author, and a fellow of the American College of Nutrition, told the publication Health.

“These mechanisms include inflammation (and) increased activity of damaging chemicals called free radicals,” Perlmutter said.

Ways to lower your risk of dementia

There are several things the CDC recommends for reducing the risk of developing dementia.

Getting active and maintaining a healthy weight, managing blood sugar and preventing or managing high blood pressure can help lower the risk of dementia. And the CDC recommends preventing or managing hearing loss and finding support for depression.

Avoiding binge drinking and smoking also could help reduce the risk.