A new study links frailty to higher dementia risk, suggesting early intervention could help prevent it.
A study led by a researcher from the University of Queensland has found that frailty raises the risk of developing dementia, but early intervention could be crucial for prevention.
Dr. David Ward from the Centre for Health Services Research tracked the data of nearly 30,000 participants of 4 longitudinal studies in the United Kingdom and the United States, enabling researchers to detect changes in people’s health and function 20 years before they were diagnosed with dementia.
“The accumulation of age-related conditions is indicative of increasing frailty, which we found accelerates up to 9 years prior to a dementia diagnosis,” Dr. Ward said.
“Our findings show with every 4-5 additional health problems there is on average a 40% higher risk of developing dementia, while for people who are fitter, the risk is lower. This suggests frailty is not merely a consequence of undetected dementia but contributes to its onset.”
Understanding Frailty and Its Impact on Health
Frailty is a health state related to aging where multiple organ systems lose their resilience, making individuals more likely to experience adverse health outcomes like falls, disability, and hospitalization.
“People age at different rates and the number of health problems that accumulate is captured by their degree of frailty,” Dr. Ward said.
“By understanding the connection between aging, frailty, and dementia we can use targeted intervention strategies to reduce risk and improve quality of life. This finding supports integrating frailty screening into routine check-ups and could be used to inform health programs that promote lifestyle interventions such as exercise and nutrition.”
According to the World Health Organization, more than 55 million people have dementia worldwide, with 10 million new cases every year.
Significance of the Study and Future Implications
Study co-author, Professor David Llewellyn from the University of Exeter Medical School, said the research was one of the most comprehensive examinations of the link between frailty and dementia.
“This study is crucial because it identifies frailty as a significant predictor of dementia risk, offering a potential pathway for early intervention to improve health outcomes,” Professor Llewellyn said.
“The success of this research hinged on international collaboration, allowing us to investigate different populations and enhance the validity of our findings, which are likely to shape future clinical trials and prevention strategies.”
Reference: “Frailty Trajectories Preceding Dementia in the US and UK” by David D. Ward, Jonny P. Flint, Thomas J. Littlejohns, Isabelle F. Foote, Marco Canevelli, Lindsay M. K. Wallace, Emily H. Gordon, David J. Llewellyn, Janice M. Ranson, Ruth E. Hubbard, Kenneth Rockwood and Erwin Stolz, 11 November 2024, JAMA Neurology.
DOI: 10.1001/jamaneurol.2024.3774
The study was a collaborative effort between researchers from The University of Queensland, Princess Alexandra Hospital, QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, The University of Edinburgh, Alzheimer Scotland Dementia Research Centre, University of Oxford, University of Cambridge, University of Exeter, Alan Turing Institute, Nova Scotia Health, University of Colorado Boulder, Sapienza University of Rome, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm University, Italian National Institute of Health, Dalhousie University, and the Medical University of Graz.
The research was supported by the Deep Dementia Phenotyping (DEMON) Network, and the Australian Frailty Network (AFN).
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4 Comments
As a now eighty year old lay American male with a family history of dementia who’s been battling mostly mild (now) chronic disease since early 1981, I’m painfully aware that frailty and dementia are comorbidities, not cause and effect. I first wrote the US FDA (with replies) of my early lay findings of connections between food allergies, added MSG, chronic diseases and obesity in October of 2005 (obviously, now, in-vain). In a final letter from me in early 2006, I asked that doctor if the brain damage due to MSG was permanent; no reply. Since, I’ve written to more than 4,000 professional others of various specialties, updating as possible, with mostly similar results.
In late 2010 (following nearly a year of related at-home dietary experimentation), much to my relief I observed my own allergy/MSG related brain damage (e.g., fatigue, brain fog, insomnia and short-term memory trouble, minimally), was not entirely permanent. Therefore, to my decades of experience with food allergies aggravated with added MSG (minimally; soy, TBHQ and others), I’m happy to report that dementia can be postponed, if not prevented. Too late to help long lost loved ones, the real issue is why is mainstream medicine still in the dark about this?” Try the “About” page of my still non-monetary video channel: https://odysee.com/@charlesgshaver:d?view=about for more details.
Absolutely.
Dementia and Alzheimer’s can be postponed if not avoided entirely by just eating less carbs and more RED MEAT.
YEAH you heard me red meat, because it contains all the essential proteins needed to rebuild every muscle in the body and every cell in the brain.
Sometimes brain problems are caused by water being built up in the brain, or certain parts of the brain, causing that part to be stressed more.
I eat carnivore diet, so that I don’t get diabetes, and also so that I don’t get dementia, for a Very Long Time.
Alzheimer’s is just diabetes 3, your body has too much suger, and so we’re pumping insulin to the wrong parts of the body, the brain and that causes a lot of damage just depends on where the barrier is broken.
Insulin resistance, is the cause of many problems, your body is full of suger on a high carb diet and this is linked to diabetes and dementia.
No drug will save you from a heart attack, dementia, or diabetes.
Taking insulin is a joke, your body has to make it’s own, if you consume less carbs then you don’t need insulin.
I said the last post wrong, the more suger you eat, the more insulin you need to combat that, until you can’t make insulin anymore more suger toxins get pumped into the body, causing inflammation and permanent damage, especially to the brain, because you’ve lost all forms of discipline, and all you want to eat is donuts.
No wonder why most of America is obese and diabetic.
Obesity isn’t caused by not moving enough, you’re not lazy, you’re just eating the wrong things.
Insulin resistance, is the cause of many problems, your body is full of suger on a high carb diet and this is linked to diabetes and dementia.
No drug will save you from a heart attack, dementia, or diabetes.
Taking insulin is a joke, your body has to make it’s own, if you consume less carbs then you don’t need insulin.
I said the last post wrong, the more suger you eat, the more insulin you need to combat that, until you can’t make insulin anymore more suger toxins get pumped into the body, causing inflammation and permanent damage, especially to the brain, because you’ve lost all forms of discipline, and all you want to eat is donuts.
No wonder why most of America is obese and diabetic.
Obesity isn’t caused by not moving enough, you’re not lazy, you’re just eating the wrong things.