Faster accumulation of cardiovascular risk factors associated with increased dementia risk

Risk factors for cardiovascular disease, such as high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity, and smoking, are thought to be key contributors to cognitive decline, dementia, and Alzheimer's disease

Our study shows that an accelerated risk of cardiovascular disease and the rapid accumulation of more risk factors, such as hypertension and obesity, are predictors of dementia risk and are associated with the onset of memory decline

The study looked at 1,244 people with an average age of 55 who were considered healthy in terms of cardiovascular fitness and memory skills at the start of the study

Of all participants, 78 (6 percent) developed Alzheimer's disease during the study period, and 39 (3 percent) developed dementia due to vascular disease

Cardiovascular disease risk was determined by the Framingham Risk Score, which predicts the 10-year risk of cardiovascular events

The researchers determined who was at accelerated cardiovascular risk by comparing participants' average progression to cardiovascular risk

The researchers found that 22% of the participants had a stable cardiovascular risk, 60% had a moderate increase over time, and 18% had an accelerated risk of cardiovascular disease

People with stable cardiovascular disease risk in the study averaged 20% of their cardiovascular disease risk over the next 10 years across the study, while those with moderate risk increased from 17% to 38% in the study and accelerated risk from a 23% to 62% increase in risk research

The researchers found that people with an accelerated risk of cardiovascular disease were three to six times more likely to develop Alzheimer's disease than people with stable cardiovascular risk.

Farnsworth von Seidwald said: "Several risk factors were elevated in the population with accelerated risk, suggesting that this acceleration may be due to damage over time by a combination of risk factors Therefore

A limitation of the study was that it was unable to determine whether the decline in dementia was caused by an acceleration in cardiovascular disease risk