According to Alzheimer’s UK, dementia is the UK’s biggest killer and one in three people born in the UK today will develop the condition in their lifetime.
However, despite the biggest risk factor for developing dementia being getting older, young-onset dementia (YOD) can affect those younger than 65.
Despite around 370,000 new cases of YOD each year, very little research has been done on the condition... until now.
Published in JAMA Neurology, new research from the University of Exeter and Maastricht University followed has revealed 15 key factors that influence your risk of developing YOD.
The universities followed more than 350,000 participants younger than 65 across the United Kingdom from the UK Biobank study.
Their findings?
The study revealed that the following all can have an impact on your YOD risk:
- Lower formal education
- Lower socioeconomic status
- Orthostatic hypotension (low blood pressure)
- Alcohol use disorder
- Genetic variation
- Social isolation
- Vitamin D deficiency
- Depression
- Stroke
- Hearing impairment
- Heart disease
- Diabetes
- Lower handgrip strength
- High C-reactive protein level (inflammation the body)
- No alcohol use
Professor David Llewellyn of the University of Exeter emphasised the importance of the findings: “This breakthrough study illustrates the crucial role of international collaboration and big data in advancing our understanding of dementia.”
However, he explained there’s still work to be done.
“There’s still much to learn in our ongoing mission to prevent, identify, and treat dementia in all its forms in a more targeted way. This is the largest and most robust study of its kind ever conducted. Excitingly, for the first time it reveals that we may be able to take action to reduce risk of this debilitating condition, through targeting a range of different factors,” he added.
Dr. Leah Mursaleen, Head of Clinical Research at Alzheimer’s Research UK, which co-funded the study, said: “We’re witnessing a transformation in understanding of dementia risk and, potentially, how to reduce it on both an individual and societal level. In recent years, there’s been a growing consensus that dementia is linked to 12 specific modifiable risk factors such as smoking, blood pressure and hearing loss . It’s now accepted that up to four in 10 dementia cases worldwide are linked to these factors.”