Checking your health: Surprising risk factors that play role in cognitive decline

Los Angeles (KABC) — Can’t find your phone or remember where you parked your car? It’s not always a sign of aging.

Aging is just a small part of the cause of cognitive decline, according to new findings.

With 10 million new cases of dementia diagnosed each year, you might be surprised what risk factors other than aging are involved.

A new study in the Public Library Science Journal found that age explains only 23% of cognitive decline in people aged 54 to 85.

In the remaining 77%, other factors such as personal and parental education level, race, income and occupation played a large role. Understanding these causes gives scientists insight into the varying degrees of cognitive decline in diseases such as dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.

“The tricky thing about Alzheimer’s disease is that it’s been declining over the years,” said Dr. Sarah Kremen, a behavioral neurologist at the Jona Goldrich Center for Alzheimer’s and Memory Disorders in Cedars-Sinai. I’m here. “Some people take five or eight years, some people take 20.”

Researchers at Case Western Reserve University found that for every 1,000 older people with COVID-19, seven will be diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease within a year.

This is slightly above the diagnostic rate of 5 in 1,000 elderly people without coronavirus.

Researchers at the University of Missouri have found that patients with COVID-related pneumonia are at increased risk of developing dementia.

But COVID isn’t the only surprising risk factor.

“Two-thirds of Alzheimer’s patients in the United States are women,” said Dr. Sepi Shokouhi, assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the Vanderbilt Center for Cognitive Medicine.

Scientists say it’s not just because women live longer than men. Researchers have found that abnormal proteins associated with dementia are more prevalent in women’s brains.

“We can predict that sex will be more strongly integrated in future precision medicine for Alzheimer’s disease,” said Shokouhi.

Additionally, studies show that taking anticholinergics such as Benadryl and Clozapine for more than 3 years increases the risk of dementia by 54%.

Other factors that contribute to cognitive decline include obesity, smoking, and chronic disease. There are things you can do to mitigate the risk of many impacts.

Even walking can reduce the risk of dementia.

Researchers found that walking 4,000 steps a day lowered the risk of dementia by 25%, and reaching 10,000 steps a day lowered it by 50%.