Think Your Health Is Bad? You Might Have A Higher Risk Of Dementia
Your brain health might be linked withgeneral poor feelings of health, a new study suggests.
Research out of France suggests that people who think they aren't in good health have a higher risk ofdeveloping dementialater on in life. The finding suggests that we might know, deep down, when something might be wrong, researchers said.
"People don't yet complain of memory troubles, but still they have a feeling thatsomething is happening in their brainor their bodies that is not right," study researcher Dr. Christophe Tzourio, MD, PhD, a professor at the University of Bordeaux, told WebMD.
In the study, researchers asked 8,169 people ages 65 and older to rate their health. Then, they followed up with them seven years later and found that 618 people developed dementia.
Researchers found that the people who self-rated their health as poor were 70 percent more likely to develop dementia, compared with people who said they had good health. And people who self-rated their health as fair were 34 percent more likely to develop the disease.
Tzourio said that it's possible a social reason is behind the finding.
"We know that having a large social network and social activities are associated with a decreased risk of dementia," Tzourio said in a statement. "Therefore, it's possible that rating one's health as poor might be associated with behaviors that limit social interaction and in turn accelerate the dementia process."
TheAlzheimer's Societyin the United Kingdom published a statement in response to the finding:
As this study shows once again, keeping in tip top health will not only have short term gain but could significantly reduce our risk of dementia. It is therefore important that people manage any medical conditions they have, maintain a healthy lifestyle and have regular check ups with their GP.
However, the Alzheimer's Society did note that there is no scientific way to determine who for surewill go on to develop dementia, and more research is needed to find diagnostic tools.
Recently, researchers in Australia reported good results from aneye test to help detect Alzheimer's disease. In that study -- presented at the Alzheimer's Association International Conference earlier this year -- researchers found that looking at the blood vessels in the retina in the eyes could point to Alzheimer's disease, the Associated Press reported.
And in another study presented at the same conference, American researchers found thatfalls could predict Alzheimer's risk, since people with brain plaques that are characteristic of Alzheimer's were more likely to fall than people without the plaques, according to the Associated Press.
This article originally appeared on HuffPost.
