People with asthma, especially the elderly, have an increased risk of dementia, according to Pannochka, an online publication for girls and women aged 14 to 35.. net This is evidenced by the results of a new study conducted in Taiwan.

However, the authors urge not to draw hasty conclusions and to conduct additional research..

The results of the work of Dr. Yi-Hao Peng from the Department of Pulmonology, China Medical University Hospital (Taichung, Taiwan) were published at the end of last week in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.

The researchers included nearly 13,000 people who were diagnosed with asthma between 2001 and 2003.. For each of the participants, they selected four people of the same age and gender for comparison.. Thus, the control group consisted of 51,084 people..

The analysis showed that patients with asthma have an increased risk of dementia. These results differ from an earlier study by Swedish scientists that found no link between asthma and Alzheimer's disease.. Scientists say that this discrepancy can be explained by the methods of Swedish colleagues: their data was based on the reports of the patients themselves, and not on the doctor's diagnosis..

In general, men with asthma are at higher risk of dementia than women.. This is significant even after adding factors such as age, comorbidities, number of annual visits to the doctor, and corticosteroid use to the analysis..

Older people with asthma have a significantly higher risk of dementia compared to younger patients.. But this is quite natural and coincides with the results of previous studies, which confirm that age is the most important factor in dementia..

People with a history of stroke, traumatic brain injury, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, hypercholesterolemia, and atrial fibrillation, as well as those who visit doctors more than 30 times a year, have the highest risk of dementia in the future. The study also found a direct link between the number of annual asthma-related hospitalizations and the risk of dementia..

Possible explanations.

The authors of the work emphasize that studies of this kind cannot prove a causal relationship between asthma and dementia.. They say more research is needed for this..

What could be the reason for such a relationship, if it really exists There are already several theories. One of them is associated with inflammation.. Another theory is that people with asthma can build up harmful waste products in their brain cells due to a lack of oxygen, which eventually leads to dementia..

Interestingly, patients who took inhaled corticosteroids for asthma control had a significantly lower risk of dementia compared to those who were prescribed drugs from other groups.. Scientists believe that the use of corticosteroids may slow down this process..

The researchers did not take into account lifestyle factors, level of education, occupation, level of physical activity, diet and smoking.. All of these are potential risk factors for dementia, so an error cannot be ruled out..

medbe. en.