Dementia affects nearly 55 million people worldwide. Still incurable, this type of illness is characterized by mood changes, memory problems, loss of sense of time, etc. which can lead to loss of autonomy. Over the years, many risk factors have been identified, such as a sedentary lifestyle, memory problems or even certain disorders such as depression.
More recently, researchers at the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, Sweden, discovered that suffering from psychiatric disorders such as anxiety, stress or even psychotic disorders, such as hallucinations, could be an early sign of dementia for up to three years. years before diagnosis. Their results are published in the journal JAMA Network Open.
Depression, stress or even sleep disorders could be warning signs of dementia.
To arrive at these conclusions, the researchers based themselves on a panel of 796,505 people representative of the Swedish population. Of those registered, 209,245 had dementia. Data was collected for 17 years, from 2000 to 2017.
Specifically, researchers noted the onset of psychiatric disorders, such as depression, anxiety, stress-related disorders, substance use disorders, sleep disorders, as well as psychotic disorders such as hallucinations. The researchers analyzed this data based on the onset of dementia.
Dementia: taking antidepressants could be a warning sign
In their conclusions, the researchers note that “patients with dementia presented with significantly increased risk to receive a diagnosis of psychiatric disorder and an prescription of psychiatric medications before and after the diagnosis of dementia”. More specifically, the researchers note that the risk increased “clearly” three years before diagnosis, with the highest level occurring during the week following diagnosis. Likewise, the researchers point out that the use of medications such as antidepressants increased two years before diagnosis and reached its highest level in the six months before the diagnosis was made.
According to the researchers, these results highlight “highlight the importance of integrating psychiatric prevention and management interventions for people with dementia at different stages of the diagnostic process”. Likewise, they recall “the importance of managing psychiatric symptoms during the progression of dementia”.
Source : Psychiatric Disorders Before and After Dementia Diagnosis – JAMA Network Open.
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