{"id":686936,"date":"2026-03-28T03:03:16","date_gmt":"2026-03-28T03:03:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/686936\/"},"modified":"2026-03-28T03:03:16","modified_gmt":"2026-03-28T03:03:16","slug":"common-medical-condition-seen-years-before-dementia-develops-study-reveals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/686936\/","title":{"rendered":"Common medical condition seen years before dementia develops, study reveals"},"content":{"rendered":"

New research has identified an association between late-onset dementia and certain infections<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The study, published in the journal PLOS Medicine, investigated the link between the two, exploring whether the connection could stem from other health issues<\/a> stemming from severe infections.<\/p>\n

Researchers at the University of Helsinki, Finland, considered 170 common hospital-treated diseases that occurred one to 21 years before diagnosis in more than 65,000 patients with dementia aged 65 and older.<\/p>\n

Lower Dementia Risk Linked To Routine Vaccination In Major New Analysis<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

After narrowing the list down to 29 diseases showing the strongest link to dementia, two were infections \u2013 cystitis (a bacterial\/urinary tract infection) and general bacterial infection<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The other diseases were non-infectious, including mental disorders as well as digestive, endocrine, cardiovascular and neurological diseases, as well as injuries.<\/p>\n

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\"Older<\/p>\n

Nearly half of dementia cases included one of the 29 identified diseases before diagnosis.<\/p>\n

(iStock)<\/p>\n

Nearly half (47%) of dementia cases<\/a> came after one of the 29 identified diseases.<\/p>\n

Even after adjusting for these diseases, the link between dementia and infection remained intact, the researchers found. These infections typically occurred about five to 6-\u00bd years before dementia diagnosis.<\/p>\n

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Those with hospital-treated cystitis and bacterial infection, for example, had about a 19% higher rate of late-onset dementia.<\/p>\n

Overall, the findings “support the possibility that severe infections increase dementia risk,” the researchers concluded.<\/p>\n

\"Bacteria<\/p>\n

Those with hospital-treated cystitis and bacterial infection had about a 19% higher rate of late-onset dementia.<\/p>\n

As the development of dementia often takes “years or even decades,” the findings suggest that severe infections “might accelerate underlying cognitive decline,” the study authors commented in a press release.<\/p>\n

The lack of baseline cognitive assessment and clinical examination<\/a> data before dementia diagnoses posed some limitations to the study. Infection treatment data was also not available.<\/p>\n

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Study co-author Pyry N. Sipila, MD, PhD, a public health lecturer at the University of Helsinki, pointed out that the study was observational.<\/p>\n

“Thus, we cannot prove whether there really is cause and effect between severe infections and dementia,” he told Fox News Digital. “Ideally, there would be intervention trials<\/a> in the future that would test whether the prevention of infections will help reduce or delay the onset of dementia.”<\/p>\n

\"senior<\/p>\n

The authors suggest that infections could be accelerating dementia that already exists.<\/p>\n

Sipila recommends that adults stay up to date on vaccinations<\/a>.<\/p>\n

“Although our study does not prove that vaccinations would help prevent dementia, I think it certainly doesn\u2019t hurt to have that one extra benefit of potentially reducing the risk,” he said.<\/p>\n

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Dr. Joel Salinas, a Harvard-trained behavioral neurologist and chief medical officer at Isaac Health, said the study’s size suggests it could be applied to other populations.<\/p>\n

“We often assume infections are just a marker of someone being generally at risk of illness<\/a>, but here, severe infections specifically appear to play an independent role,” the New York-based expert, who was not involved in the study, told Fox News Digital.<\/p>\n

“That suggests there may be something biologically meaningful happening, like inflammation or immune responses that affect the brain<\/a>.”<\/p>\n

\"woman<\/p>\n

Cardiovascular health, managing conditions like hypertension and diabetes, and avoiding head injuries are dementia risk factors, Salinas listed.<\/p>\n

Salinas added that it’s important to keep this increased risk “in perspective,” as having an infection doesn’t guarantee the development of dementia, but should be considered “one piece of a much larger puzzle.”<\/p>\n

Some of the strongest risk factors for dementia, according to Salinas, include fundamentals like heart disease, hypertension, diabetes, depression and head injuries<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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“What this study adds is a reminder that severe infections, especially those requiring hospitalization, may also be part of that risk profile, particularly in older adults,” he told Fox News Digital.<\/p>\n

“We\u2019re moving away from thinking about dementia as a single disease with a single cause, and toward understanding it as the result of multiple interacting factors over time.”<\/p>\n

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