Dementia risk associated with mid-life anxiety
Tuesday May 1st, 2018
Mid-life anxiety could be linked to the development of dementia later in life, according to a new analysis.
Analysis of four studies, which involved almost 30,000 people, supports recent evidence, pointing to a link between anxiety and risk of mild cognitive impairment, the researchers say. It also adds weight to the known association between depression and dementia, they say.
However, it is not clear if medical treatment could reduce this risk or if non-drug therapies, such as mindfulness and meditation, could help, say the researchers.
The alternative possibility is that the increased anxiety is an early sign of dementia.
But, publishing their findings in BMJ Open, the team from the University of Southampton and University College London suggests that an abnormal stress response, which is typical of moderate to severe anxiety, could speed up brain cell ageing and degenerative changes in the central nervous system.
They believe this could increase the vulnerability to dementia.
They write: "Whether reducing anxiety in middle age would result in reduced risk of dementia remains an open question.
"Non-pharmacological therapies, including talking therapies and mindfulness-based interventions and meditation practices, that are known to reduce anxiety in midlife, could have a risk reducing effect, although this is yet to be thoroughly researched."
Because of the prevalence of anxiety, doctors should consider anxiety as a risk factor for dementia as well as depression, they say.
All the studies used in the research found an association between moderate to severe anxiety and future dementia, with a gap of at least ten years in between diagnoses.
Research: Support for midlife anxiety diagnosis as an independent risk factor for dementia: a systematic review.BMJ Open. April 2018. doi 10.1136/bmjopen-2017-019399
http://bmjopen.bmj.com/lookup/doi/10.1136/bmjopen-2017-019399
Tags: Brain & Neurology | Elderly Health | Mental Health | UK News
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