Medicalfacts Editorial / Janine Budding January 7, 2024 – 7.21pm
BWith dementia at a young age, people often think of a genetic cause. Scientists from Maastricht University (UM) and the University of Exeter in the UK have now identified 15 risk factors associated with an increased risk of dementia at a young age. People can influence some of these risk factors themselves. In addition to the person’s socioeconomic status or known lifestyle factors such as alcohol consumption and smoking, scientists have also discovered a surprisingly strong link with mental health: depression and social isolation in particular – e.g. due to hearing damage – appear to be good predictors of an increased risk of failing to develop dementia by age 65. The results were recently published in the scientific journal JAMA Neurology.
Dementia at a young age
Dementia is receiving increasing attention, but relatively little research has been conducted on dementia at young ages. Dementia at a young age occurs when people develop dementia before the age of 65. In the Netherlands, this fate affects around 15,000 people and 1,000 to 1,500 cases are added every year, according to previous research by the same scientists. Early recognition and the right help and support can improve the quality of life of people affected by dementia at a young age. This was also the main reason why UM researcher Stevie Hendriks and her colleagues at the Alzheimer Center Limburg looked for risk factors that might be related to dementia at a young age. “The impact of dementia at a young age is very large, because these people usually still have a job, children and a busy life,” says Hendriks. “The cause of dementia at a young age is often thought to be genetic, but for many people we actually don’t know exactly what the cause is. This is why we also wanted to investigate other risk factors in this study.”
Risk factors
For their research, the Maastricht scientists used data from a so-called long-term cohort study from the United Kingdom, the UK Biobank. They analyzed data from more than 350,000 individuals, who were carefully monitored by British researchers between 2006 and 2021. This data revealed 15 risk factors that, to a greater or lesser extent, appear to be predictors of a greater risk of dementia in young age. “We already knew from research on people with dementia in older age that there are a number of modifiable risk factors,” says Sebastian Köhler, professor of Neuroepidemiology at Maastricht University. “They now pay a lot of attention to prevention in the Netherlands, for example in the National Dementia Strategy of the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sports. In addition to physical factors, mental health also plays an important role in preventing dementia, for example by avoiding chronic stress, loneliness and depression. The fact that we now see this phenomenon so strongly in dementia at a young age was unexpected to me and may give us the opportunity to reduce the risk in this group too.”
Source: Maastricht University
Editorial Medical Facts / Janine Budding
I studied physiotherapy and healthcare business administration. I am also a registered independent customer advocate and informal care intermediary. I have a lot of experience in various positions in the healthcare sector, the social sector and the medical and pharmaceutical industry, nationally and internationally. And I have broad medical knowledge of most healthcare specialties. And the health laws by which health care is regulated and funded. Every year I attend most of the major medical conferences in Europe and America to keep my knowledge up to date and keep up with the latest developments and innovations. I am currently studying for a Masters in Applied Psychology.
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2024-01-07 18:59:54
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