Two NEW Modifiable Risk Factors for Dementia Identified
The 2024 update of the Lancet Commission on dementia added two new risk favors to its list of 12 for prevention of the disease: untreated vision loss and high LDL cholesterol after the age of 40. The results were presented at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference in Philadelphia.
According to the report, reducing the risk of dementia starting as early as childhood could reduce the number of people living with dementia by almost half. The experts also point out that there could be significant economic and social benefits to slowing the global surge of dementia and that it behooves governments to prioritize large-scale attempts to reduce dementia risks.
The 14 Risk Factors
The previous version of the Lancet Commission’s report, which came out in 2020, included 12 risk factors that are linked to 40% of all dementia cases. These include:
- Alcohol abuse
- Smoking
- Diabetes
- Obesity
- High blood pressure
- Air pollution
- Brain injury
- Physical inactivity
- Depression
- Social isolation
- Hearing loss
- Lower levels of education
New additions:
- Untreated vision loss
- High LDL cholesterol after 40
Of the two newest additions, high cholesterol contributes to around 7% of all dementia cases and vision loss contributes to approximately 2% of dementia cases.
Why high cholesterol and vision loss?
According to a summary of the research published in NewScientist, having high LDL cholesterol (after age 40 but under age 65) was added as a risk factor after multiple new findings, including one that was an analysis of 17 studies. They believe the association may be due to excess cholesterol in the brain raising the likelihood of stroke, as well as the link between cholesterol and an accumulation of plaques of beta-amyloid protein in the brain (which are involved in Alzheimer’s).
As for why untreated vision loss was added to the list of risk factors, consider that it reduces cognitive stimulation. One analysis showed that the risk was mostly due to cataracts and complications of diabetes. Another analysis of 14 studies linked untreated vision loss in cognitively healthy people to a 47% greater risk of developing dementia 14.5 years later.
Arguments for government involvement
With the rapidly aging population, dementia experts predict that the number of people with dementia will rise to nearly 153 million globally; that’s nearly TRIPLE the number since 2019 (57 million). Already, the economic impact of the disease is over $1 trillion each year. The report’s authors say that it’s essential for governments to intervene in order to help combat the expected surge of the disease over the next few decades.
“Many of the known risk factors for dementia can be influenced by health and government policy and this is likely to be the most effective way to support people to make lifestyle changes which they would not otherwise be able to do themselves,” says one of the report’s authors, Dr. Andrew Sommerlad, who serves as an associated professor at University College London’s division of Psychiatry and Consultant Old Age Psychiatrist in Islington Memory Service. His examples of health policy interventions include, “socially integrated housing, activities, and volunteering opportunities in old age.”
In addition, Sommerlad pointed out the importance of frequent social contact to reduce the risk of dementia. “There is consistent evidence that having more frequent social contact with others and lower levels of loneliness are linked to lower dementia risk,” he says. “This is likely to be because social contact in any form is an effective way of exercising our brains to build cognitive reserve, or resilience, against dementia pathology. [In addition], social contact may also promote healthy behaviors, such as exercise and diet, and reduce stress.”
To learn more, read the Lancet article free of charge here: https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(24)01296-0/abstract
MBJ
Wendy Burt-Thomas writes about the brain, mental health and parenting.
Check out the original research:
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(24)01296-0/abstract
