High dementia risk

Poor heart health is a better predictor of dementia risk for individuals than their genetic profile, researchers led by Oxford and Exeter Universities have discovered.  Someone with multiple health conditions affecting the heart was three times more likely to develop dementia than someone with a high genetic risk, they found.  The study, published by the Lancet, examined data from more than 200,000 people aged 60 and above, identifying those who had had one or more of three conditions: diabetes, stroke or heart attack.  The more of these conditions people had had, the higher their dementia risk.  “These findings reiterate the importance of treating the causes of poor heart health, not just for its own sake, but also the added benefit in terms of reducing the number of dementia cases,” commented Dr Sara Imarisio, head of research at Alzheimer’s Research UK.