The Common Conditions That ‘significantly Increase Your Risk Of Dementia’ – And The Most Dangerous Ages To Be Diagnosed

WHY do some people develop dementia, while others don’t?

It’s a question that has baffled scientists for decades.

GettyThe age you develop certain illnesses plays a key role in brain decline[/caption]

Some blame can be put on booze, obesity and other lifestyle habits – but it’s also in your DNA.

While there’s still no single answer, experts agree it’s often triggered by a mix of factors – with health conditions such as diabetes also upping your risk.

And now a new study reveals that when you get a chronic health condition could matter just as much as the condition itself.

Experts at the University of Oxford said up to 80 per cent of people with dementia also have two or more other long-term illnesses.

But there is still “a lack of understanding” about how the timing and type of these illnesses affect dementia risk.

They identified “critical time windows” in which certain illnesses pose the greatest risk to patients.

For the study, published in Brain Communications, experts analysed data from 282,712 people in the UK Biobank and looked at patterns for 46 chronic health problems.

Getting heart conditions such as heart disease and atrial fibrillation, as well as diabetes, before age 55 could raise your risk of dementia later in life, researchers found.

And developing strokes, anxiety or depression between 55 and 70 may double the danger.

Heart issues like atrial fibrillation and diabetes before 55 were most strongly linked to dementia.

But from 55 to 70, conditions such as stroke and mental health disorders posed the biggest danger.

“Although we knew that multimorbidity increased the risk of dementia, it was unclear which combinations of health conditions had the most impact and in what sequence,” Sana Suri, associate professor and senior fellow at Oxford Brain Sciences, said.

“This study has identified how specific illnesses tend to co-exist with each other, and also the critical time windows in which they could pose the greatest risk.”

The findings suggest people who get heart disease or diabetes in middle age, followed by mental health issues or stroke later on, are at greatest risk.

Sana said these other illnesses should be taken into account when working out someone’s likelihood of developing dementia.

“This study identified associations between multimorbidity and dementia risk but we need to understand more about why this happens,” she said.

“We also need to try to replicate the study in more diverse groups of people to ensure the results are representative of the population.”

She added: “Future studies could examine whether efforts to manage or prevent cardiovascular problems in early-to-midlife, followed by mental health and neurological disorders when people are in their fifties and sixties, might reduce the risk of dementia.”

Do you know the difference?

A separate study, published earlier this week, suggested two common infections may also play a role in the development of dementia.

Researchers from Pennsylvania found that both Chlamydia pneumoniae and SARS-CoV-2 increase the levels of substances in the brain called cytokines.

These trigger inflammation, which can “harm brain cells and may help speed up the buildup of harmful proteins linked to Alzheimer’s“, the most common form of dementia.

Chlamydia pneumoniae is a “very common” type of bacteria that causes lung infections, including pneumonia.

It is not the same as the STI chlamydia, though both are highly infectious.

SARS-CoV-2 is the virus that causes Covid-19.