Chronic and New Anxiety Linked to Higher Dementia Risk in Under-70s, but Timely Treatment Can Mitigate Risk: Study
Australia: The
study published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society on
24 July 2024, revealed that chronic and newly developed anxiety is linked to a higher risk of all-cause dementia, with the association being particularly significant in individuals aged 70 and younger.
These findings suggest that addressing anxiety promptly could be an effective strategy for lowering the risk of dementia.
Dementia is defined as a
problem that interferes with daily life. It is a general term that is used to
define the loss of memory, language, thinking abilities, and problem–solving
abilities. It is caused by abnormal brain changes. Alzheimer’s is the most
common cause of dementia. Dementia was the seventh-leading cause of death
globally and the second-leading cause of death in high-income countries in
2020. Considering this Kay Khaing MMed, from the University of Newcastle, New
Lambton Heights, Australia, et. Al conducted a study to evaluate the
longitudinal association between the risk of dementia from all causes and the
presence of chronic, resolved, or new-onset anxiety.
To achieve this,
the research team studied 2132 residents of Newcastle, New South Wales,
Australia, who were between the ages of 55 and 85. Under permission from the
University of Newcastle Human Research Ethics Committee, they undertake research
using longitudinal data from the Hunter Community Study. The Kessler
Psychological Distress Scale (K10) was used to quantify anxiety. Recruitment
took place for the participants from December 2004 to December 2007. To
determine the risk of dementia, the Fine-Gray sub-distribution hazard model was
calculated.
The study contained participants’
health and demographic information. The Center for Epidemiologic Studies
Depression Scale was used to measure depression. Depression was classified as a
dichotomous variable and indicated by a total score of 16 or above, which was
determined by adding the 20 items (which have a range of 0 to 60). For
continuous data, the student-t test was employed, and for categorical data, the
chi-square test.
The findings revealed
that:
- While resolved anxiety was not linked with
all-cause dementia risk, chronic anxiety and new onset anxiety at follow-up
were, with an average time to dementia diagnosis of 10 years (SD = 1.7). - Among participants under 70 years of age, both
chronic and new anxiety were the main drivers of these outcomes in subgroup
analyses. - Highly comparable outcomes were obtained using
sensitivity analyses that addressed reverse causation and imputed missing data.
“As a potentially
modifiable risk factor for dementia, anxiety suggests that middle-aged and
“young” older persons may benefit from anxiety management to lower
their lifetime chance of developing dementia. Particularly among people 70
years of age and under, persistent anxiety and fresh anxiety at follow-up were
linked to an elevated risk of dementia from all causes.”, researchers
concluded.
Reference
Khaing, K., Dolja-Gore,
X., Nair, B. R., Byles, J., & Attia, J. (2024). The effect of anxiety on
all-cause dementia: A longitudinal analysis from the Hunter Community Study. Journal
of the American Geriatrics Society. https://doi.org/10.1111/jgs.19078
