Although dementia is more often associated with old age, its roots can go deep into the past.

Experts point out that some risk factors appear before we are born, while others develop during adolescence and young adulthood, which opens up new opportunities for early prevention, writes ScienceAlert.

Previous research has mainly dealt with modifiable risk factors in later life, but changing these habits after neurodegeneration has already begun does not yield significant results.

A 2023 study in Sweden and the Czech Republic identified several factors at birth associated with a slightly increased risk of dementia later in life. While some are beyond our control, such as sharing a uterus with a twin, others, such as having a shorter birth interval or becoming pregnant after the age of 35, can influence parents’ decisions, KosovaPress reports.

There is more and more evidence that supports this thesis. “Can the roots of dementia reach back to childhood or infancy? A growing body of evidence suggests that it does, and that exposure to risk factors in the first decade of life can have lifelong implications for dementia risk,” the team of experts explained in an article for The Conversation.

They point out that most research has focused on cognitive decline in old age, but many of the changes in brain structure and function associated with dementia may have existed since childhood. For example, long-term studies show that a person’s cognitive ability at age 70 is strongly related to their cognitive ability at age 11.

“That is, older adults with poorer cognitive abilities often had these lower abilities from childhood, rather than the changes being simply due to faster decline in old age,” the authors state.

Another study, published at the end of 2024, examined risk factors in young adults aged 18 to 39 years. A team led by the Global Brain Health Institute (GBHI) from Ireland brought together experts from 15 countries to develop a lifelong plan to improve brain health.

“Young age represents a key window for intervention that can significantly reduce the risk of dementia later in life,” said Francesca Farina, neuroscientist at GBHI.

Researchers have identified several risk groups. Some are related to lifestyle, such as excessive alcohol consumption, smoking, lack of physical activity and social isolation. Others are environmental, such as exposure to pollution, traumatic brain injury, hearing or vision loss, and lower levels of education. A third group includes health problems such as obesity, diabetes, hypertension, high LDL cholesterol and depression, which often stem from lifestyle habits.

At the individual level, raising awareness of the importance of brain health through public health campaigns and school education is essential. This could be financed by taxing substances that damage brain health, such as alcohol and cigarettes.

Experts warn that the list of risk factors is not exhaustive. Additional research is needed on the impact of ultra-processed foods, screen time, stress and exposure to microplastics. The research was published in the journal “Lancet: Healthy Longevity.”

Source: prizrenpost