Mexico is facing the Covid-19 epidemic with a population that has a high prevalence of chronic diseases (75% of adults are overweight or obese, 49.2% have hypertension, and 14% have diabetes).
People with chronic diseases are at higher risk of dementia
Suffering from chronic diseases can sometimes increase the risk of suffering from other pathologies. And if someone suffers from more than one chronic disease, which is called multimorbidity, the risk increases even more. This is what happens with dementia, for example.
A recent study found that having two or more chronic diseases in midlife is associated with an increased risk of developing dementia later in life. The results show that the risk is greater when these types of conditions develop at an earlier age, in the mid-50s.
The research, published in the journal The BMJ and shared by Europa Press. She has looked at the long-term association between multimorbidity at ages 55, 60, 65, and 70 years and later dementia.
The risk was 2.4 times higher
The researchers stress that when the participants entered the study between 1985 and 1988, they were between 35 and 55 years old and did not have dementia. In addition, they explain that in order to carry out the study, multimorbidity was defined as the presence of at least two chronic diseases from a predefined list of 13 chronic diseases, excluding dementia.
Thus, of the 10,095 participants, 6.6% had multimorbidity at 55 years and 32% at 70 years. Ultimately, during a median follow-up of 32 years, 639 cases of dementia were identified.
Therefore, the data conclude that multimorbidity at age 55 years was associated with a 2.4-fold increased risk of dementia. This, compared to people who do not suffer from any of the 13 chronic diseases that were considered for the study.
It is necessary to “find objectives for the prevention of dementia”
Furthermore, the association progressively weakened with the age of onset of multimorbidity. For example, at age 65 years, multimorbidity onset before age 55 years was associated with a 2.5-fold increased risk of dementia.
Ultimately, the researchers concluded that for every 5 years of onset of multimorbidity up to 70 years, the risk of dementia was 18% higher.
With these data and without an effective treatment for dementia, the experts insist that it is necessary to “find objectives for the prevention of dementia” and highlight “the role of the prevention and management of chronic diseases throughout age adulthood to mitigate adverse outcomes in old age.
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