Middle-aged persons who have cardiovascular health risk factors, such as diabetes, high blood pressure and are also current smokers, have a greater chance of suffering from dementia later in life, researchers have warned.
Read also:Poor sleep may make you fat, raise diabetes risk
According to a study:
- The findings showed that the chances of dementia increased most strongly with age followed by the presence of APOE4, a gene associated with Alzheimer’s disease.
- Diabetes or high blood pressure, also called hypertension, increased the chances of developing dementia.
- Importantly, diabetes was found to be almost as strong a predictor of dementia as the presence of the APOE4 gene, the researchers said.
- Rebecca Gottesman, Professor at the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, US.
- Said,”Our results contribute to a growing body of evidence linking midlife vascular health to dementia,”.
- However, these are modifiable risk factors.
- Our hope is that by addressing these types of factors early.
- People can reduce the chances that they will suffer from dementia later in life,Gottesman added.
- In addition, the researchers also discovered a link between dementia and prehypertension.
- Prehypertension, a condition in which blood pressure levels are higher than normal but lower than hypertension.
- Diabetes, hypertension and prehypertension increased the chances of dementia for participants, irrespective of race. Finally, smoking cigarettes also increased the chances of dementia, the researchers noted.