Scientists have drawn up a list of risk factors for dementia and developed a tool that can ‘strongly predict’ whether someone will develop the condition in the next 14 years.
Experts from the University of Oxford compiled a list of eleven factors that could accurately assess whether or not middle-aged people would develop the condition.
They examined data from more than 200,000 people aged 50 to 73 who took part in two large long-term British studies.
Researchers compiled a list of 28 known factors associated with dementia risk and then narrowed them down to the strongest 11 predictors.
The factors include age, education, history of diabetes, history of depression, history of stroke, history of parental dementia, degree of deprivation, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, living alone, and being male.
Scientists have compiled a list of risk factors for developing dementia later in life, one of which is living alone (stock photo)
The team also examined these risk factors in addition to whether or not people carried a specific gene – the APOE gene – which is also linked to dementia.
Combined, these were used to develop the UK Biobank Dementia Risk Score (UKBDRS) – APOE tool.
They found that the tool produced the highest predictive score for people who developed dementia over the 14-year study.
For example, an older man with a history of diabetes, who lives alone, has high blood pressure and the APOE gene would have a higher risk score compared to a younger woman without any of the other risk factors mentioned.
The authors said the assessment “significantly outperforms” comparable other risk assessment tools currently available.
These tools not only identify those at risk, but can also highlight preventive measures that people can take while it is still possible.
The academics point to previous work showing that up to 40 percent of dementia cases could be prevented by modifying certain lifestyle factors, including smoking cessation, lowering high blood pressure, losing weight and reducing alcohol intake.
They suggest that the new instrument could be used in the future as an initial dementia screening tool to place people in “at-risk” groups.
Those who come back with a high probability of developing dementia, based on the risk score, may be given priority for further testing, including cognitive assessments, brain scans and blood tests.
Associate Professor Sana Suri, co-lead author from the University of Oxford, said: ‘It’s important to remember that this risk score only tells us about our chances of developing dementia; it does not represent a definitive result.
‘The importance of each risk factor varies, and since some factors in the score can be modified or treated, there are things we can all do to help reduce our risk of dementia.
‘Although older age – 60 years and older – and APOE carry the greatest risk, modifiable factors, such as diabetes, depression and high blood pressure also play a key role.
“For example, the estimated risk for a person who has all of these will be about three times that of a person of the same age who doesn’t have these.”