Scientists have identified a link between the place of residence and the risk of dementia

A person's place of residence directly affects key risk factors for developing dementia, which requires the development of individual national prevention strategies. This conclusion was reached by scientists from the University of Southern California during a large-scale study of data from more than 214 thousand elderly people from 14 countries and regions. This was reported on July 13 by Science Daily magazine.

The researchers analyzed data collected from 2009 to 2023 in the United States, Europe, China, India, Brazil and other countries. It turned out that the prevalence of major risk factors, such as low education, smoking and hypertension, varies significantly depending on geography.

For example, low levels of education affect 85.6% of the elderly in China, compared with only 12% in the United States. At the same time, 44.9% of Americans have a high body mass index compared to 13.3% of Indians. At the same time, scientists have noticed that certain risks are often grouped together all over the world: cardiovascular diseases (high cholesterol and hypertension) are usually diagnosed together, as are bad habits such as smoking and alcohol consumption.

In the course of their work, the experts studied 12 modifiable risk factors, including hearing loss, depression, lack of physical activity, and social isolation. According to the authors, the data obtained will help governments create health programs that best meet the needs of specific populations. Thus, the expansion of measures to combat diabetes can simultaneously help in solving problems with hypertension.

Nichols emphasized that the results of the study carry a positive message, since the risk of cognitive impairment in old age is not predetermined. According to her, people can independently influence it throughout their lives by changing their habits. In the future, experts intend to expand the geography of research by including data from Kenya and Egypt in the analysis, as well as to study the impact of sleep quality on the development of dementia.

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On July 8, the journal Neurology pointed to a link between declining incomes and early dementia. According to the study, early dementia leads to a loss of work productivity, which can manifest itself many years before diagnosis. The researchers clarified that differences in income between patients with dementia and the control group were noticeable already 15 years before diagnosis.