OAKLAND, Calif., Jan. 24 (UPI) -- High cholesterol, hypertension, diabetes, and smoking have been linked by an Oakland, Calif., study with dementia that occurs later in life.
The study, by doctors at the Kaiser Permanente Division of Research, found each risk factor, long known to contribute to cardiovascular disease, are associated with a 20 percent to 40 percent increase in the risk of dementia later in life.
The study, published in the Jan. 25 issue of Neurology, examined nearly 9,000 northern Californians.
Those with two of the risk factors were 70 percent more likely to be diagnosed with dementia than those with none of the factors; those with three were more than twice as likely; while those with all four risk factors had a 237 percent greater risk of being diagnosed with dementia.
The team found a reduction in risk factors for heart disease might also reduce the risk of dementia. Earlier treatment may have an even greater benefit by virtue of the cumulative effect of longer exposure to protective therapies.
