Heart risk factors predict dementia too

Reported by Susan Aldridge, PhD, medical journalist

People with risk factors like high cholesterol in middle age are more likely to go on to develop dementia in later life.
Previous work has demonstrated a link between the risk factors for heart disease and an increased risk for dementia. A new study from the Kaiser Permanente Division of Research in Oakland, California, strongly underlines this association. They looked at nearly 9,000 residents, following them for 27 years and having recorded data on diabetes, smoking, blood pressure and cholesterol.

Each risk factor was associated with a 20 to 40 per cent increased risk of dementia in later life. Compared to having no risk factors, those with two risk factors were 70 per cent more likely to develop dementia, and those with three were more than twice as likely. Those with all four risk factors had a 237 per cent greater risk of dementia. This suggests that treatment - the earlier the better - of heart risk factors may be the best way of avoiding dementia.

Source
Neurology 25th January 2005