This site is intended for UK healthcare professionals
Medscape UK Univadis Logo
Medscape UK Univadis Logo
News

Early detection of frailty tied to lower dementia risk

According to a new study, early detection and management of frailty and pre-frailty may help lower the risk of dementia or slow down its onset. The findings were published in The Lancet Healthy Longevity.

A research team led by the University of Glasgow analysed data from 143,215 UK Biobank participants, of whom 47.8 per cent were pre-frail and 3.9 per cent were frail. During a follow-up period of 5.4 years, 726 individuals went on to develop dementia.

In a fully adjusted model, pre-frailty and frailty were associated with a 21 and 98 per cent increased risk of dementia incidence, respectively. Those with frailty aged <60 years had an increased risk of dementia compared with older frail individuals. Frail individuals also were likely to develop dementia 3.58 years earlier than non-frail individuals.

Weight loss, tiredness, low grip strength and slow gait speed were components of frailty that were independently associated with increased dementia risk.

Lead author, Dr Carlos Celis-Morales from the University of Glasgow said: “Given that currently available medicines can neither cure nor reverse dementia, and offer little symptom relief, there is an urgent need to identify potential risk factors that could prevent or slow development of this terrible disease.”


References


YOU MAY ALSO LIKE