United States: In a new study, it is showed two novel risk factors associated with Alzheimer’s disease.
These are untreated vision loss and high levels of LDL cholesterol, which have been found to be linked to a greater probability of developing the common type of dementia.
As per the experts, Low-density lipoprotein (LDL), or “bad cholesterol,” poses grave health disadvantages when present in high amounts inside one’s body.
More about the finding
As per the researchers of the University College London, who published the results in the Lancet on August 10.
As the report suggested, vision loss and high LDL cholesterol were added to twelve other risk factors linked by researchers in 2020, as Yahoo News reported.
Other twelve risk factors involved are loss of hearing, low education, smoking, hypertension, obesity, redundantness or no physical activity physically, depression, diabetes, alcohol abuse, air pollution, brain injury, and social isolation.
The other two new factors have been analyzed by scientists by going through several studies based on vision loss and high cholesterol.
Therefore, now, with a total of fourteen factors posing a risk in almost half of the dementia cases across the globe, means if preventing or eliminating them would possibly prevent several cases.
According to Fiona Carragher, chief policy and research officer at the Alzheimer’s Society in the UK, “Some dementia risk factors, such as alcohol consumption and physical exercise, can be managed by changing your lifestyle, but many must be addressed on a societal level,” as Yahoo News reported.
“Social isolation, education inequalities, and air pollution are beyond individuals’ control and require public health interventions and joint action between government and industry,” She added.
What more have the experts stated?
According to Dr. Earnest Lee Murray, who is a board-certified neurologist at Jackson-Madison County General Hospital in Jackson, Tennessee, and not part of the study, “substantiates a lot of things we have known about dementia for several years.”
“The study in Lancet shows higher levels of LDL (the bad cholesterol) — which is often related to diet and lifestyle choices — is related to a greater chance of developing a dementia process,” he added.
Moreover, “Genetic factors can play a role in elevated levels of LDL — however, even in these patients, diet modifications can be beneficial as well,” he continued.