June 28, 2024 – With changing risk aspects for dementia, cardiovascular health (or the health of your heart and blood vessels) is becoming more vital today.
This is what researchers from University College London (UCL) within the United Kingdom say after analyzing 27 articles on dementia, for which data was collected over a period of greater than 70 years. They calculated which proportion of dementia cases will be attributed to different risk aspects. Their results were recently published in The Lancet – Public Health.
According to a press release on the findings, hypertension, obesity, diabetes, education and smoking have been the most important risk aspects for dementia through the years. But the prevalence of risk aspects has modified over the many years.
Researchers said that on account of “population-level interventions” reminiscent of smoking cessation campaigns and mandatory public education, smoking and education have develop into less vital risk aspects. On the opposite hand, cases of obesity and diabetes have increased and develop into major risk aspects.
Hypertension, or hypertension, stays the most important risk factor, whilst doctors and public health organizations place greater emphasis on treating the disease, the study says.
“Cardiovascular risk factors may have contributed more to dementia risk over time, so they require more targeted interventions in future dementia prevention efforts,” said Naaheed Mukadam, PhD, associate professor at UCL and lead creator of the study.
By eliminating modifiable risk aspects, theoretically 40 percent of dementia cases could possibly be prevented, the press release states.
The CDC says An estimated 5.8 million people within the United States have Alzheimer's disease and related dementias, including 5.6 million people aged 65 and over and about 200,000 under the age of 65. The UCL press release states that an estimated 944,000 people within the UK have dementia.