People suffering from anxiety disorders could be more likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease, an Australian study has claimed.
The study, published by brain researchers The Florey, analysed data from 2443 older Australians from Melbourne and Perth, who are part of a recognised cohort for dementia research.
Study leads Dr Yijun Pan and Dr Liang Jin said anxiety and other neurological disorders are linked to an increased likelihood of developing Alzheimer’s disease, especially in males.
“People with anxiety and neurological disorders are 1.5 and 2.5 times more likely to have Alzheimer’s disease,” Pan said.
“For people with anxiety, males have higher odds than females of developing Alzheimer’s disease.”
The study also found several medical conditions were linked to a decreased risk of Alzheimer’s, including arthritis, cancer, gastric complaints, and high cholesterol.
The p53 protein is known to cause neuron dysfunction and cell death in Alzheimer’s patients, but it’s also found to lose its function in cancer patients, possibly explaining the link between the two conditions, the study’s authors said.
“We need further research to understand whether these diseases interfere with the evolution of Alzheimer’s or whether there might be other reasons,” Pan said.
“The medications or treatments used for these diseases may possibly contribute to this observation.”
The study did not find a link between Alzheimer’s and depression, falls or strokes.
”This is the first study to assess 20 comorbidity associations with cognitive impairment using a single Australian dataset, which allowed us to fully consider how these conditions affect the likelihood of developing Alzheimer’s disease,” Pan said.
“We also studied whether age, gender, smoking, education, alcohol consumption, and the APOE gene – believed to be connected to Alzheimer’s – affects these associations.
“Our study indicates a new opportunity for biologists to study the links between these 20 conditions with Alzheimer’s disease.
“This work also provides valuable epidemiological evidence to clinicians, which may help them to evaluate one’s risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease.”
