science
Blood Test May Predict Dementia Risk Before Symptoms Appear
Researchers analyzed blood metabolites from more than 220,000 UK residents and found that individuals whose biological age exceeded their chronological age faced higher dementia risk. The link was stronger for vascular dementia. The study suggests biological aging data could identify at-risk people years before clinical symptoms emerge.
May 13, 7:00 AM·2m read1 source
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More than 6 million Americans have dementia, a progressive brain disorder that affects memory, language, problem solving and judgment. Symptoms include forgetting names or recent events, expressing confusion about time and place, and struggling with daily routines.
A study published Wednesday examined data from over 220,000 UK residents, including nutrients and hormones in their blood known as metabolites, incidence of dementia, and age of symptom onset.
Nearly 4,000 participants developed dementia during the study period. Biological age can increase faster than chronological age because of cellular damage from stress, poor habits, and environmental factors such as pollution and extreme heat.
The age difference link was more pronounced for vascular dementia, which affects thinking skills and is the second most common form of dementia after Alzheimer’s disease. About 16 percent of participants had a 20 percent greater risk of dementia because they had an age gap greater than one standard deviation from the mean. The risk was 60 percent greater for vascular dementia.
Those with older biological ages and two copies of APOE4, the strongest genetic risk factor for late-onset Alzheimer’s, were 10 times more likely to develop dementia. A spokesperson said the findings suggest that biological aging data can help identify individuals at risk of dementia before clinical symptoms emerge.
The spokesperson added that combining genetic factors with potentially modifiable factors captured in biological aging may allow development of preventative strategies, potentially based on a simple blood test.
