Scientists discover links between diabetes, heart disease, Alzheimer’s and dementia

A new study of twins by researchers at the Karolinska Institute suggests that the same genes may be responsible for the risk of both cardiometabolic disease and dementia. (CREDIT: Creative Commons)

The presence of several cardiometabolic diseases, such as diabetes, heart disease, and stroke, is associated with a significantly increased risk of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. A new study of twins by researchers at the Karolinska Institute suggests that the same genes may be responsible for the risk of both cardiometabolic disease and dementia. The results were published in the European Heart Journal.

Cardiometabolic diseases such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease and stroke are a growing problem in society. As populations age and health care improves, people are living longer with cardiometabolic diseases and are more likely to experience two or more of these conditions during their lifetime, known as cardiometabolic disease multimorbidity. It is estimated that 30 per cent of older people suffer from it, leading to an increase in mortality.

“We know that type 2 diabetes, heart disease and stroke are well-known individual risk factors for dementia. As the population ages, more and more people suffer from several cardiometabolic comorbidities, but little research has been done on the impact of this multimorbidity on the risk of dementia and whether genetic factors influence this relationship,” says Abigail Dove, PhD student at the Center for Aging Research at the Karolinska Institute and first author of the study.

Comprehensive study of twins

Therefore, the researchers examined twins over 60 years of age who were registered in the Swedish Twin Registry between March 1998 and December 2002. More than 17,000 people were categorized according to whether they had one or more cardiometabolic diseases or not. these diseases. terms.

Similar stories

All study participants were cognitively healthy at baseline. The health status of the participants was followed for 18 years, which allowed the researchers to determine who eventually developed dementia and who did not.

“We found that cardiometabolic multimorbidity is associated with more than a doubling of the risk of vascular dementia and a 50 percent increase in the risk of Alzheimer’s disease,” says Abigail Dove.

For each cardiometabolic disease in a person, the risk of all types of dementia increased by 42 percent. The corresponding figure for Alzheimer’s disease is 26 percent and for vascular dementia 64 percent.

Higher risk with early disease onset

The study also showed that the risk of developing dementia was higher if a person was diagnosed with cardiometabolic diseases in middle age, compared with those who developed these diseases later in life. According to the study, one explanation for this could be that if the disease debuts at an earlier age, it may be more aggressive.

“These results highlight the need for special monitoring of people with cardiometabolic disease to reduce the risk of dementia in older age,” says Abigail Dove.

Genetic factors influence

The researchers also looked closely at about 400 specific pairs of twins from the study population who were “incompatible,” that is, two twins in a pair differed from each other both in terms of the prevalence of cardiometabolic disease and in terms of possible development. dementia.

Summary of the main results of the study. CMD, cardiometabolic disease; DZ, dizygotic; HD, heart disease; MZ, monozygotic; DM2, type 2 diabetes. (CREDIT: European Journal of Cardiology)

Among mismatched dizygotic twins who share 50 percent of their genes, the twin with a cardiometabolic disease is also more likely to develop dementia. However, among incompatible pairs of identical twins who are genetic copies of each other, the risk of dementia was the same for both twins, regardless of cardiometabolic disease status.

Risk of all-cause dementia by age at onset of AMD. Hazard ratios with 95% confidence intervals for all-cause dementia from Cox regression models adjusted for age, gender, education level, marital status, body mass index, hypertension, smoking status, alcohol consumption, physical activity level, and depression. (CREDIT: (CREDIT: European Heart Journal)

“The results show that the same genetic factors can contribute to both cardiometabolic disease and dementia,” says Abigail Dove.

The study was funded by the Swedish Research Council and Forte. There are no reports of conflicts of interest.

For more science news, visit our New Discoveries section at The bright side of the news.

Note. Materials provided by the Karolinska Institute. Content can be edited for style and length.

Do you like such pleasant stories? Receive Brighter Side of News Newsletter.