Signs of whether you may have dementia

Signs of whether you may have dementia

A team of scientists has created a list of risk factors for dementia and developed a tool that can "strongly predict" whether a person will develop the disease in the next 14 years, according to what was published by the British "Daily Mail".

Experts from Oxford University created a list of 11 risk factors to assess with good accuracy whether middle-aged people will develop dementia.

Scientists examined data on more than 200 people between the ages of 50 and 73 who took part in two large, long-term British studies. They compiled a list of 28 known factors associated with dementia risk, then divided it into the 11 strongest predictors, including age, education, history of diabetes, histories of depression and stroke, having a parent with dementia, levels of deprivation, high blood pressure and cholesterol, living alone and personality traits. The team of researchers also examined whether people carried a specific gene, the APOE gene, which is also associated with dementia.

14-year forecasts

All factors were used to develop the UK Biobank dementia risk score, to create the APOE tool, which produced the highest predictive scores for people developing dementia over the 14 years of the study. For example, an older man with a history of diabetes, who lives alone, has high blood pressure and has the APOE gene would have a higher risk score compared to a younger woman who carries none of the other risk factors mentioned.

The researchers said the assessment is "significantly superior" to other similar risk assessment tools currently available. In addition to identifying people at risk, these tools can also highlight preventative measures people can take while it's still possible.

The researchers cite previous research indicating that up to 40% of dementia cases can be prevented by modifying some lifestyle factors, including stopping smoking, lowering high blood pressure and losing weight, indicating that the new tool could be used in the future as a primary screening tool for dementia. To place people in “at-risk groups”. Those who come back with a high risk of dementia, according to their risk score, may be prioritized for further testing including cognitive assessments, brain scans and blood tests.

Reduce potential risks

“It is important to remember that the risk score only tells about the odds of developing dementia; But it is not a final result.

Professor Suri added that “the importance of each risk factor differs from each other, and since some of the factors included in the score can be modified or treated, there are things that can be done to help reduce the risk of dementia,” noting that “while advancing age - 60 years and older - and the APOE gene poses the greatest risk. Modifiable factors such as diabetes, depression and high blood pressure also play a major role.

"The estimated risk factors for someone with all of these symptoms, for example, would be roughly three times higher than the risk for someone of the same age who doesn't have any," concluded a Syrian professor.

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