Risk of dementia linked to faster accumulation of cardiovascular risk factors, study reveals

According to the scientists, participants in the study with stable cardiovascular disease risk had an average 20 percent risk of a cardiovascular event over 10 years throughout the study.

A new study has revealed that cardiovascular disease risk factors like high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity, and smoking are believed to play crucial roles in like developing cognitive decline, dementia, and Alzheimer’s disease. According to this study, people who develop these risk factors over time, at a faster pace, have an increased risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease dementia or vascular dementia as compared to those whose risk factors remain stable throughout life.

The study was published in the April online issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

“Our study suggests that having an accelerated risk of cardiovascular disease, quickly accumulating more risk factors like high blood pressure and obesity, is predictive of dementia risk and associated with the emergence of memory decline,” said study author Bryn Farnsworth von Cederwald, Ph.D., of Umea University in Sweden.

The scientists examined 1,244 people with an average age of 55 who were considered healthy in terms of cardiovascular health and memory skills during the beginning of the study. Later, these people were given memory tests, health examinations, and completed lifestyle questionnaires every five years for up to 25 years. The researchers found that of all participants, 78 people, or 6 percent, developed Alzheimer’s disease dementia during the study, and 39 people, or 3 percent, developed dementia from vascular disease.

According to the scientists, participants in the study with stable cardiovascular disease risk had an average 20 percent risk of a cardiovascular event over 10 years throughout the study. Meanwhile, people with a moderately increased risk went from 17 percent to 38 percent over the course of the study and those with an accelerated risk went from 23 percent to 62 percent increased risk by the end of the study, as reported by news agency ANI. However, the study was unable to determine whether the decline leading to dementia is initiated by an accelerated cardiovascular disease risk.