20150722 - dementia

 

Dementia avoidable in one in three patients

One third of patients with dementia could have prevented the onset of the disease by living healthier and by taking avoidable risk factors into account such as smoking, diabetes and high blood pressure.

In recent years, high blood pressure in particular has emerged as a potent risk factor. Researchers at Erasmus MC will be presenting these findings today at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference in Washington based on data from the large-scale Erasmus Rotterdam Health Study (ERGO) population screening, also known as the Rotterdam Study.

It has long been recognized that smoking, diabetes, and high blood pressure are risk factors, but now for the first time researchers at Erasmus MC have studied how these factors contribute to the onset of dementia and whether their influence on dementia has changed in recent decades. “This is crucial information,” says Arfan Ikram, neuroepidemiologist with the Department of Epidemiology at Erasmus MC, “because it will help us to work on targeted prevention measures.

The study results show that the influence exerted by avoidable risk factors has increased. Furthermore, there has been a noticeable shift in these factors. Ikram explains: “A quarter century ago, smoking and a low level of education were the primary factors contributing to the development of diabetes, high cholesterol, and hypertension, while they played a lesser role in the development of dementia. These risk factors together were identified in 23 percent of dementia sufferers at the time. Our analysis of the trends in recent decades shows that this proportion has risen to 30 percent.
Read the full press release

 http://www.erasmusmc.nl/corp_home/corp_news-center/2015/2015-07/dementie.soms.vermijdbaar/?lang=en