Latest On Dementia

Latest On Dementia

The increase in the aging population worldwide means more older adults face the possibility of developing dementia, a term for diseases that affect memory, thinking, and the ability to perform daily living activities. Alzheimer’s disease is the most common form of dementia. More than 55 million people have dementia worldwide, according to the World Health Organization.

While dementia has no cure, the Lancet Commission on dementia prevention, intervention, and care says that 45 percent of dementia cases can be prevented or delayed by addressing 14 risk factors throughout one’s life:

  • Air pollution
  • Depression
  • Diabetes
  • Excessive alcohol consumption
  • High low-density lipoprotein (“bad”) cholesterol
  • Hearing impairment
  • High blood pressure
  • Lower levels of education
  • Obesity
  • Physical inactivity
  • Smoking
  • Social isolation
  • Traumatic brain injury
  • Vision loss

“Many people around the world believe dementia is inevitable, but it’s not,” Gill Livingston, who led the Lancet Commission, said at the Alzheimer’s Association’s International Conference in July. “Our report concludes that you can hugely increase the chances of not developing dementia or pushing back its onset. It’s also important to stress that while we now have stronger evidence that longer exposure to risk has a greater effect, it’s never too early or too late to take action.”

Emotional and Psychological Factors Involved In Developing Dementia

There is growing evidence that anxiety, loneliness, social isolation, and lack of purpose all are dementia risk factors.

For instance, people with chronic and new anxiety have a three times higher risk of developing any type of dementia, according to a 10-year study by researchers at the University of Newcastle in Australia. However, people whose anxiety resolved within the first five years of the study did not have a higher dementia risk. 

Based on the findings, anxiety may be a “non-traditional” risk factor in preventing dementia, Dr. Kay Khaing, the study’s lead author, told CNN.

Besides anxiety, feeling that life lacks purpose is also a potential warning sign of dementia, based on a study that followed 910 “cognitively intact older adults” for up to 14 years. People who developed mild cognitive impairment, a precursor of dementia, had lower levels of purpose in life and personal growth starting three to six years, respectively, before their diagnosis, compared with participants who remained cognitively intact, the study found. 

The way social isolation and loneliness can potentially factor into dementia risk was the focus of researchers at the University of Waterloo in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, who conducted a six-year study on the issue.

“As we expected, people who were both socially isolated and lonely had the greatest decline in memory, which intensified over the six years,” Ji Won Kang, lead author of the paper, said in a news release. “But we were surprised to find that loneliness alone had the second-greatest impact on memory, even though so many studies report on the dangers of social isolation without considering loneliness.”

Fighting Dementia With Healthy Foods

Eating foods that fight inflammation, such as whole grains, fruits, and vegetables, can decrease the risk of dementia by 31 percent, according to a 15-year study published in the journal JAMA Network Open in August.  

What’s more, an anti-inflammatory diet also lowered the dementia risk for people diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, heart disease, or stroke, conditions that can increase the likelihood of developing Alzheimer’s and other dementias. 

Another study said eating about 1 ounce a day of processed red meat, such as bacon, hot dogs, and sausage, can raise the risk of dementia by 14 percent. On the positive side, replacing one serving of processed red meat with one serving of nuts and legumes, such as beans and peas, every day may lower the dementia risk by 20 percent, according to the study. 

Can Fish Oil Supplements Reduce Alzheimer’s Risk?

Would people who carry the apolipoprotein4 (APOE4) gene, which increases the risk of developing Alzheimer’s, benefit from taking fish oil supplements? Researchers at the Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) conducted a study to answer the question. 

After three years, researchers found no statistically significant difference between participants who were given three 1.65g soft gel fish oil tablets a day and those who took a placebo tablet containing soybean oil. However, participants who have the APOE4 gene showed a reduction in the breakdown of nerve cells in the brain.

“I don’t think it would be harmful, but I wouldn’t say you need to take fish oil to prevent dementia,” Lynne Shinto, a professor of neurology at the OHSU School of Medicine, and the senior co-author of the study, said in a press release.

Other Unexpected Warning Signs of Dementia

At first glance, poor oral health and spatial navigation impairment appear to have no relationship to each other. But investigations over the past several years suggest both of these issues can serve as potential warning signs of dementia decades before a dementia diagnosis.

For instance, a study by University College London researchers found that “people at risk of Alzheimer’s disease have impaired spatial navigation prior to problems with other cognitive functions, including memory.” This was seen among 100 patients who were “25 years younger than their estimated age of dementia onset.”

People with spatial navigation impairment have trouble remembering directions and getting lost easily, or not knowing where things are, even in familiar places. It’s often linked to problems in the brain areas that help with memory and understanding where people are in relation to their surroundings. Memory loss that disrupt a person’s life is one of the early signs of dementia.

In addition, investigators say people with periodontal (gum) disease are more likely to be diagnosed with Alzheimer’s or show symptoms of mild cognitive impairment or dementia than those who do not have poor oral health problems.

This is potentially due to toxic bacteria, caused by severe gum disease, that can impact cognitive function or could trigger a fight from the immune system. Over time, the chemicals it releases could contribute to the buildup of plaques (abnormal clumps of protein) in the brain, which are seen in people with dementia, Dr. Ryan T. Demmer, professor of epidemiology at the University of Minnesota, told SELF.
Dr. Demmer suggests visiting a dentist twice a year to get a professional cleaning and address any early signs of gum or teeth problems. 

Source Links:

https://www.theguardian.com/society/article/2024/jul/31/almost-half-of-dementia-cases-could-be-prevented-or-delayed-study-finds
https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/dementia
https://www.cnn.com/2024/07/29/health/anxiety-increases-dementia-risk-wellness/index.html#:~:text=Ultimately%2C%2064%20participants%20developed%20dementia,10%20years%2C%20the%20authors%20found.
https://uwaterloo.ca/news/media/loneliness-increases-risk-age-related-memory-loss
https://www.cnn.com/2024/08/13/health/anti-inflammatory-diet-dementia-wellness/index.html#:~:text=Eating%20an%20anti%2Dinflammatory%20diet,%25%2C%20a%20new%20study%20found.
https://www.cnn.com/2024/07/31/health/red-meat-dementia-study-wellness/index.html#:~:text=The%20risk%20for%20dementia%20dropped,sodium%2C%20nitrates%20and%20saturated%20fat.
https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/supplement-may-reduce-dementia-risk-for-some_uk_66b09ee4e4b007ab691fd5c8
https://www.cnn.com/2024/08/13/health/purpose-cognitive-impairment-dementia-study-wellness/index.html
https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/dementia-sign-shows-up-before-memory-loss_uk_66a8b546e4b0e33a3bb7f505
https://www.self.com/story/oral-health-dementia-risk-factor

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