A WA study has shown that a simple and common scan can reveal if people are at increased risk of developing dementia later in life.
Edith Cowan University researchers have discovered an important link between vascular health and late-life dementia – the calcification of the plaques that can build up within the abdominal aorta.
This calcium build-up – abdominal aortic calcification or AAC – can be used to predict cardiovascular disease risk such as heart attack and stroke, but researchers have now found it is also a reliable marker for late-life dementia.
Led by ECU’s Nutrition and Health Innovation Institute and Centre for Precision Health, the international team included researchers from the University of Western Australia, University of Minnesota, Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital and the Marcus Institute for Aging Research, Hebrew Senior Life, Harvard Medical School.
The team examined the AAC results in 968 women from the late 1990s, and then followed their health status for over 15 years.
They found one in two older women had medium to high levels of AAC, and these women were twice as likely to be hospitalised or die from a late-life dementia – independent of other cardiovascular factors or genetic factors.
Centre for Precision Health director, Professor Simon Laws, said AAC could identify dementia risk earlier in people’s life, which could prove vital in warding off the condition.
“There’s an adage in dementia research that what’s good for your heart is good for your brain,” he said.
“This study reaffirms this link and further adds to our understanding of late-onset dementia risk and potential preventative strategies.
“What’s come to light is the importance of modifying risk factors such as diet and physical activity in preventing dementia: you need to intervene early and hopefully this study allows for the earliest possible change and the greatest impact.
“AAC is important as it was able to identify dementia risk in people who don’t have the major genetic risk factor present in 50% of people who develop Alzheimer’s disease, which is the most common form of dementia.”
AAC can be easily detected using lateral spine scans from bone density machines, with some 600,000 bone density tests already performed each year in Australia to screen for osteoporosis.
ECU Associate Professor and National Heart Foundation Future Leader Fellow, Joshua Lewis, said an additional scan capturing lateral spine images can be performed when people undergo standard bone density tests.
“It’s generally very quick and easy to capture these scans and they are less-invasive, cheaper and miniscule in radiation exposure compared to X-rays or CT scans,” Professor Lewis said.
“We know the causes of AAC go beyond traditional cardiovascular risk factors and many of these causes overlap with late-life dementia risk factors.
“At ECU we’re also working with the computer science team automating the assessments, and this will make the process a lot quicker and easier than needing a trained imaging expert to read the scans.
“It means these scans may be a cheap, rapid and safe way to screen a large number of susceptible older Australians for higher late-life dementia risk.”