Blood Metabolite Test Linked to Dementia Risk in Large U.K. Study

A study published by the Alzheimer’s Association examined whether a blood-based measure of biological age could indicate future dementia risk. K. researchers reviewed data from more than 223,000 UK Biobank participants and tracked nearly 4,000 dementia cases during follow-up.

The team measured blood metabolites tied to fat processing, inflammation, and energy use. They calculated MileAge delta by subtracting each participant’s actual age from the age predicted by the metabolite profile.

A higher MileAge delta was associated with greater risk of all-cause dementia, vascular dementia, earlier-onset dementia, and unspecified dementia. The association was strongest for vascular dementia. Participants who had both a higher MileAge delta and the APOE gene showed a tenfold increase in all-cause dementia risk.

Study co-author Dr. Julian Mutz stated that the biological aging marker was “especially predictive of vascular dementia, the second most common form of dementia.

The study was observational and could not establish that older biological age causes dementia. Data came from a single blood draw, and participants were healthier and primarily of European ancestry compared with the general population. Dr. Marc Siegel, who was not involved in the research, noted that the findings highlight differences between healthspan and lifespan and pointed to a 60 percent increased risk of vascular dementia when poor health coincides with the APOE gene.

Researchers said the MileAge marker requires further validation before any clinical use.