Researchers from the University of Exeter in England and the University of Maastricht in the Netherlands cross-sectionally analysed data from the UK Biobank. More than 355,000 people were selected for the study, who underwent their first health assessment between 2006 and 2010 and continued regularly until March 2021.

According to current scientific knowledge, 39 factors contribute to the overall risk of developing dementia. The researchers have sorted them into several subgroups. Among the socio-demographic factors, they included: gender, education level and socio-economic status. They further identified: genetic factors, lifestyle factors such as alcohol consumption and addiction, physical activity, smoking, diet, intellectual effort, level of social isolation and being married, environmental factors such as exposure to pollutants, blood parameters such as vitamin D levels, C-reactive proteins, glomerular filtration rate and albumin levels, heart disease and metabolic factors such as stroke, hypertension, diabetes, hypoglycaemia, heart disease, atrial fibrillation or aspirin use, mental health factors such as depression, anxiety, benzodiazepine use, delirium tremens or sleep disorders.

Diet and lifestyle and dementia, photo: panthermedia

Of the 39 increased risk factors for early and late dementia, as many as 15 were related to the early form of dementia. Among these were:

• lower education,
• depressive states,
• hearing loss,
• stroke,
• vitamin D deficiency,
• high levels of C-reactive protein, or diabetes.

According to Alzheimer's Disease, the number of people with dementia will increase from 55 million people in 2020 to up to 139 million in 2050. Researchers note that we can influence some of this through lifestyle changes. Taking care of physical and mental health becomes particularly important in middle age and can prevent early dementia, although researchers acknowledge that its form is still relatively rare.