People who do not have risk factors for dementia, such as smoking, diabetes, or hearing loss, may have similar brain health as people 10 to 20 years younger than them. A new study suggests that individual dementia risk factors may reduce cognitive abilities equivalent to up to three years of aging.
“Our study suggests that lifestyle factors may be more important than age in determining cognitive function levels,” said first author, Analizes Lafleur, of the Becrest Rotman Institute in Canada. This is good news because there are many things we can do to correct risk factors, such as relieving them and providing the support they need to quit smoking.”
This study is one of the first studies to examine lifestyle risk factors for dementia throughout life. Previously, most studies of this nature have targeted middle-aged people. But the new study also included data from young participants aged 18 and found that risk factors negatively affected cognitive performance across all age groups. “These results are very important because it means that risk factors can and should be addressed as early as possible,” said senior author Dr. Nicole Anderson.
The study included data from 22,117 people aged 18 to 89 who had completed the ‘Cognitive Brain Health Assessment’ developed by Baycrest. Each participant visited the website (https://cogniciti.com/) from home and took the test, which took regarding 20 minutes.
The researchers looked at their memory and attention test results and examined how they were affected by eight modifiable risk factors for dementia. The eight risk factors for dementia include low education (less than high school), hearing loss, traumatic brain injury, alcohol or drug abuse, high blood pressure, smoking (current or last 4 years), diabetes, and depression.
Individual risk factors induce cognitive decline for up to 3 years, and each additional risk factor adds the same amount of cognitive decline. For example, the presence of three risk factors might result in a decrease in cognitive performance equivalent to nine years of aging. The effectiveness of risk factors increased with age, and the number of risk factors people had also increased with age.
“Overall, our research shows that people have the power to reduce the risk of cognitive decline and dementia,” said Dr. Rafflen. “It will keep your brain healthy so you can age without fear.”
The study was published in Alzheimer’s and Dementia. The original title is ‘The adverse effect of modifiable dementia risk factors on cognition amplifies across the adult lifespan’.
Reporter Lee Bo-hyun together@kormedi.com
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