Dementia Predictors!

This was published today in the daily nurse's newsletter I receive. The bottom line is that people who smoke, have high blood pressure or have diabetes have a greater chance of dementia in their later years. However, when cardivascular risk factors are measured in middle life, it is a better predictor of dementia than those measured in later life. Therefore, people in their younger and middle age should pay attention to the cardiovascular risk factors: smoking, high blood pressure and diabetes, and make positive changes before it is too late.

"Current smokers were 70% more likely than those who had never smoked to develop dementia. People with high blood pressure were 60% more likely than those without high blood pressure to develop dementia, and people with diabetes were more than twice as likely as those without diabetes to experience cognitive impairment."

"Investigators studied more than 11,000 people who were part of the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) study. Participants were aged 46 to 70 years and underwent a physical examination and cognitive testing. Patients were followed up for more than a decade to see how many would later develop dementia.

Researchers identified 203 patients hospitalized with dementia. Smoking, high blood pressure, and diabetes were all strongly associated with this diagnosis."

Other researchers found a correlation between high cholesterol levels and dementia, even when you factor in genetic markers.

"During an interview when the Solomon study was first released, Robert Stewart, MD, from King's College London in the United Kingdom, said that the data are convincing and consistent with those from other studies that have screened community populations for this disorder."

"In general," Dr. Stewart said, "there is now a large body of evidence which indicates that what is bad for the heart is bad for the brain — that is, that the well-known risk factors for coronary heart disease and stroke are also risk factors for dementia."

So, please be smart! If you have any of these risk factors, now is the time to change your lifestyle. Exercise, eat healthier, and stop smoking!