Risk factors for Alzheimer’s dementia may be measurable in adolescents and young adults, according to three research studies presented at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference (AAIC) on 30 July. These risk factors include health factors such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes and social factors such as education quality.
The Study of Healthy Aging in African Americans (STAR) looked at 165 adolescents, 439 young adults and 110 adults. Kristen Georges from University of California Davis and his colleagues reported that hypertension, diabetes, or having two or more heart health risk factors at adolescence and adulthood were associated with statistically significantly worse late-life cognition. According to the researchers, these findings suggest that cardiovascular disease risk factors as early as adolescence may influence late-life brain health in African Americans.
A second study analysed the impact of body mass index (BMI) at the age of 20 on the risk for later-life dementia in a total of 5.104 older adults. For women, dementia risk was 1.8 times higher among those who were overweight and 2.5 times higher among those who were obese compared to women with normal BMI in early life. For men, dementia risk was 2.5 times higher among those who were obese in early adulthood, 1.5 times higher among those who were overweight in mid-life and 2.0 times higher among those who were obese in mid-life. Adina Zeki Al Hazzouri from Columbia University and colleagues suggested that high BMI in adulthood is a risk factor for dementia in late life.
A study conducted by Justina Avila-Rieger from Columbia University Medical Center analysed the relationship between years of education and dementia risk on 2.446 participants enrolled in the Washington Heights/Inwood Columbia Aging Project (WHICAP), who attended elementary school in the US. The study tracked variables such as mandatory school enrollment age, minimum dropout age, school term length, student-teacher ratio and student attendance. The analysis found that participants who attended school in states with lower quality education had more rapid decline in memory and language in later life. Higher quality of education was associated with lower risk of dementia for non-Hispanic white women, black men and women. These findings provide evidence that later life dementia risk and cognitive function is influenced by early-life state educational policies.
https://www.alz.org/aaic/releases_2020/early-life-risk-factors-dementia.asp
