Mental Health and Dementia Are Linked

“Researchers [in the U.S. and New Zealand] found that the connection between mental health problems and dementia was seen across men and women, for both early-onset and later-onset dementias, across different types of mental health conditions and for both Alzheimer’s and non-Alzheimer’s dementias.

They explained that these results have several implications, including better treatment of mental disorders earlier on in people’s lives which could mitigate neurodegenerative diseases, like dementia and Alzheimer’s, later in life.

Notably, researchers also said mental disorders may be indicators of risk rather than definitive causes of dementia, but they are a very early warning sign of subsequent cognitive decline, with real-life intervention implications — especially here in the U.S. The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) estimates nearly 50 percent of adolescents had any mental disorder from 2001 to 2004.
NIMH estimates nearly 1 in 5 adults live with a mental illness, about 52.9 million in 2020. The prevalence for any mental illness was highest among females at nearly 26 percent, while young adults aged 18-25 had the highest prevalence at about 30 percent among different age groups.
It’s not all bad news, as Leah Richmond-Rakerd, the study’s lead author, explained that people with mental disorders could be encouraged to engage in health behaviors that reduce dementia risk — like increasing physical activity.”

To read the full article, click here.

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