ISLAMABAD: People with diabetes, heart disease or stroke have doubled the risk of developing dementia, finds a study.
Type 2 diabetes, heart diseases (ischemic heart disease, heart failure or atrial fibrillation) and stroke, so-called cardiometabolic diseases, are some of the main risk factors for dementia.
The presence of more than one cardiometabolic disease accelerated the speed of cognitive decline and doubled the risk of cognitive impairment and dementia, expediting their development by two years. The magnitude of the risk was increased with a greater number of diseases, revealed the study published in the journal, Alzheimer’s & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer’s Association.
Prevention of diabetes and cardiovascular disease could therefore be a strategy for reducing dementia risk, suggest researchers from Karolinska Institute in Sweden, Medical Daily reported . “In our study, the combinations of diabetes/heart disease and diabetes/heart disease/stroke were the most damaging to cognitive function,” said Abigail Dove, doctoral student at the Aging Research Centre, at the Institute.
However, individuals who had just one cardiometabolic disease did not display a significantly higher risk of dementia. “This is good news. The study shows that the risk only increases once someone has at least two of the diseases, so it’s possible that dementia can be averted by preventing the development of a second disease,” he added. –Agencies
