Article | Reporter Li Sihui, Intern Tian Jun
Recently, Professor Liu Gang's team at Huazhong University of Science and Technology published a latest research on the prospective association between socioeconomic status, healthy lifestyle, and early and late-onset dementia in The Lancet-Healthy Aging. The study shows that lower educational level is significantly associated with an increased risk of early-onset dementia, and this association is more significant among type 2 diabetes patients. Unhealthy lifestyle also has a certain impact on early-onset dementia, while there is no clear link between socioeconomic status and lifestyle.Vinceti, the President of the Italian Society of Trace Elements, believes that this research has made important contributions to further understanding the risk factors for dementia, especially early-onset dementia.The Global Burden of Disease Study in 2019 showed that there are more than 15 million dementia patients aged 60 and above in China, accounting for more than a quarter of the global total number of dementia cases. As the aging population in China continues to grow, the elderly population is expected to exceed 400 million by 2050, with an estimated 30 million elderly dementia patients. Therefore, it is of great significance to identify potential modifiable factors that affect dementia.The new research included 257,345 and 294,133 participants respectively for the study of early-onset and late-onset dementia. After a follow-up of 11.9 years to 12.5 years, 502 cases of early-onset dementia and 5,768 cases of late-onset dementia were newly diagnosed. Compared with late-onset dementia, the influence of educational level, employment status, and income on early-onset dementia is more significant.The researchers found that compared with individuals with higher socioeconomic status and 3 to 4 healthy lifestyle factors, those with lower socioeconomic status and only 0 to 1 healthy lifestyle factor have a 440% higher risk of early-onset dementia, with educational level being the main influencing factor. This suggests that preventing early-onset dementia requires both individuals to follow healthy lifestyles and the country and society to take relevant measures to improve the social determinants that affect health and promote health equity."China's aging population is continuously increasing, and the prevalence of cognitive impairment is gradually rising. There are also cases where the quality of life has significantly declined due to dementia. We hope that our research can raise public awareness and provide some references for national policy-making," said Liu Gang, the corresponding author of the paper.Related paper information:
https://doi.org/10.1016/S2666-7568(23)00211-8
China Science News (January 15, 2024, Edition 1, Headline News)Editor | Zhao LuLayout | Guo GangPlease scan the QR code below for 3 seconds to recognize
