Researchers from University College London (UCL) have identified post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as a potential risk factor for developing dementia in later years. The research describing the first meta-analysis linking PTSD and dementia was recently published in the British Journal of Psychiatry.
The team went through nine databases up to 2019 and reviewed 13 studies from four continents. This included data of over one million people to rule out PTSD as a possible risk factor of dementia as early as 17 years after diagnosis.
Data revealed that PTSD increased the chances of developing dementia by 61%. Two of the studies indicated that PTSD doubled the risk of developing dementia later on.
Compared to veterans with PTSD, the general population had a higher chance of developing dementia. Since veterans were most likely receiving treatment for PTSD, the team suggests that the same treatment for others with the same condition could reduce the risk of dementia.
PTSD Affecting Brain Health
Dr. Vasiliki Orgeta from UCL said that their study provides evidence of the brain health is affected by traumatic experiences. Results also show how trauma impacts the brain and has long-term effects. PTSD can make people vulnerable to cognitive decline and eventually, dementia.
Many individuals with PTSD are not receiving treatment due to social stigma, which hinders people from seeking help, or due to the lack of mental health care capacity, shared Dr. Ortega. "We now have more evidence of how traumatic experiences and accessing treatment could have a long-lasting impact on individuals and influence future risk of developing dementia."
PTSD can also increase the chances of developing other factors that lead to dementia, shared the authors, such as depression, alcoholism, and social isolation. The team continues to search for more evidence of how PTSD raises the risk of developing dementia.
Most likely, the researchers said, recurring trauma and hypervigilance could be factors for the decline in mental health. Stress and threat-related activity in the brain are activated due to trauma while social isolations affect resilience and cognitive reserve, or the mind's resistance to brain damage.
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Identifying More Risk Factors of Dementia
Mia Maria Günak shared that the team's "findings add to a growing body of evidence that dementia can sometimes be prevented by addressing risk factors throughout an individual's life course." They have identified a new group who have an elevated risk of developing dementia and may benefit from mental health support, she shared.
Dr. Orgeta added that PTSD has been common among hospital patients diagnosed with coronavirus. However, the trauma "remains an underdiagnosed, undertreated, and under-researched mental health condition, yet it can have serious long-term consequences" such as developing dementia later on.
"An important question is how," shared Ortega, preventive treatments can be developed for people with PTSD and have an elevated risk of developing dementia based on the team's findings UCL is also leading other studies to identify factors associated with dementia, including factors like smoking, lack of education, negativity, and hearing problems.
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