Scientists from Karolinska Institutet found that people with at least two of the following conditions—type 2 diabetes, heart disease and stroke—have double the risk of developing dementia.
Prevention of diabetes and cardiovascular disease could therefore be a strategy for reducing dementia risk.
The research is published in the journal Alzheimer’s & Dementia and was conducted by Abigail Dove et al.
Type 2 diabetes, heart diseases (ischemic heart disease, heart failure or atrial fibrillation) and stroke—so-called cardiometabolic diseases—are some of the main risk factors for dementia.
Dementia develops slowly over decades. It first manifests as gradual cognitive decline that only shows up in cognitive tests.
It then degenerates into cognitive impairment in which the individual notices their failing memory but can still look after themselves, and finally into full-blown dementia.
In the study, the team extracted data from 2,500 healthy, dementia-free individuals over the age of 60 living on Kungsholmen in Stockholm.
At the start of the study, the incidence of heart-metabolic diseases was assessed through medical records.
The participants were then followed for twelve years with medical examinations and cognitive tests in order to monitor changes in cognitive ability and the development of dementia.
The team found the presence of more than one cardio-metabolic disease accelerated the speed of the cognitive decline and doubled the risk of cognitive impairment and dementia, expediting their development by two years.
The magnitude of the risk was increased with a greater number of diseases.
The team says the combinations of diabetes/heart disease and diabetes/heart disease/stroke were the most damaging to cognitive function.
However, individuals who had just one cardiometabolic disease did not show a much higher risk of dementia.
This means that the risk only increases once someone has at least two of the diseases, so it’s possible that dementia can be averted by preventing the development of a second disease.
The correlation between cardiometabolic diseases and the risk for dementia was stronger in the participants who were under 78 years old.
The researchers hope in future studies to learn more about the mechanism driving this correlation.
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