THURSDAY, Dec. 28, 2023 (HealthDay News) — Several modifiable factors are associated with a higher risk for young-onset dementia (YOD), according to a study published online Dec. 26 in JAMA Neurology.

Stevie Hendriks, Ph.D., from Maastricht University in the Netherlands, and colleagues examined 39 factors associated with the incidence of YOD from the literature using data from 356,052 participants younger than 65 years in the U.K. Biobank (baseline assessment 2006 to 2010 and follow-up until March 31, 2021).

The researchers found that during the study period, there were 485 incident YOD cases (51.8 percent men), yielding an incidence rate of 16.8 per 100,000 person-years. Fifteen of the 39 factors were significantly associated with a higher YOD risk, including lower formal education, lower socioeconomic status, carrying two apolipoprotein ε4 alleles, no alcohol use, alcohol use disorder, social isolation, vitamin D deficiency, high C-reactive protein levels, lower handgrip strength, hearing impairment, orthostatic hypotension, stroke, diabetes, heart disease, and depression.

“In this study, several factors, mostly modifiable, were associated with a higher risk of YOD,” the authors write. “These modifiable risk factors should be incorporated in future dementia prevention initiatives and raise new therapeutic possibilities for YOD.”

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