Largest Study of Its Kind
The average age of someone between 30 and 64 years old living with either young-onset dementia or Alzheimer’s is 49, with women being disproportionately affected compared to men, according to the BCBS data.Risk Factors for Young-Onset Dementia
“Young-onset dementia has a very serious impact, because the people affected usually still have a job, children, and a busy life,” Stevie Hendriks from the department of psychiatry and neuropsychology at Maastricht University in the Netherlands, who was the lead author of the study, said in the statement. “The cause is often assumed to be genetic, but for many people we don’t actually know exactly what the cause is.”Major contributing risk factors included alcohol abuse, stroke, and hearing impairment—all previously identified as risks for cognitive decline.
Vitamin D Reduced Dementia Risk by 40 Percent
Previous epidemiological studies have also linked vitamin D deficiency with an increased risk of dementia, Claire Sexton, senior director of scientific programs and outreach at the Alzheimer’s Association, told The Epoch Times.
However, relatively few studies have specifically examined risk factors for young-onset dementia, making Ms. Hendriks’s team’s study “a welcome addition to the literature,” Ms. Sexton said.
The study found that among those who developed dementia within 10 years, about 75 percent were non-supplement takers compared to only 25 percent who took vitamin D supplements. Supplementation provided greater protection for women, though it reduced dementia risk in both sexes.
Interestingly, the study found that vitamin D seemed to offer more benefits if people supplemented it before any signs of cognitive problems. “Vitamin D effects were significantly greater in females versus males and in normal cognition versus mild cognitive impairment,” the authors wrote.
Overall, the researchers associated vitamin D supplementation with a 40 percent lower incidence of dementia than with no supplementation.
The Risk Factors We Can Change
Of the risk factors identified in the recent study, several stand out as addressable through lifestyle changes. These include alcohol abuse, diabetes, heart disease, and stroke—with the latter two being linked to high blood pressure, itself a dementia risk factor. Moderate exercise, smoking cessation, and dietary improvements can mitigate these.More difficult to tackle is loneliness, termed “social isolation” by the researchers. Participants who visited friends and family less than once a month showed higher young-onset dementia rates compared with those who had more frequent visits.
“Social isolation is linked to depression, but depression did not mediate the association of social isolation with YOD (young-onset dementia) in our analyses, suggesting that both directly contribute to dementia risk,” the study authors wrote.
To help prevent early-onset dementia, experts recommend making lifestyle changes to mitigate key risk factors such as vitamin D deficiency, inflammation, low blood pressure, and social isolation.
