Reduce frailty to lower dementia risk

Reducing frailty in older people could be an effective way to reduce dementia according to a new study published in the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry.

The International study involved data from more than 196,000 people aged 60 and over from the UK Biobank. A team from Dalhousie University and Nova Scotia Health in Canada worked alongside the University of Exeter and found that frailty, a strong risk factor for dementia could be modified through a healthy lifestyle even among those at high genetic risk for dementia.

The team calculated participants’ genetic risk and rated their frailty score reflecting the accumulation of age related symptoms, signs, disabilities and diseases over a period of 10 years, and analysed each individual’s lifestyle whilst recording those individuals who went on to develop dementia.

Even in those at the highest risk of dementia, the team found that the risk was lowest in people who were fit and highest in people who were in poor health which was measured as a high degree of frailty. The combination of a high genetic risk and high frailty was extremely detrimental with individuals at six times greater risk of dementia than those without either risk factor.