The likelihood of Alzheimer's disease was found to be lower in many somatic diseases

Australian researchers conducted a cross-sectional study and found that the incidence of moderate cognitive impairment (MCI) and dementia associated with Alzheimer's disease (AD) is positively correlated with anxiety and other neurological disorders, and negatively correlated with many common somatic diseases. A publication about this appeared in the journal Alzheimer's & Dementia: Diagnosis, Assessment & Disease Monitoring. Yijun Pan (Yijun Pan) from the University of Melbourne with colleagues from various research centres in Australia analysed data from 2443 older people who took part in the national study of imaging, biomarkers and lifestyle in aging AIBL, launched in 2006. In particular, the authors were interested in the correlation between the presence of UCN/BA and the 20 most common comorbid conditions at the time of inclusion in the study.

It turned out that the probability of developing UCN/BA was significantly increased with anxiety and other neurological disorders (about 1.5 and 2.5 times, respectively, more pronounced in men). At the same time, there was a significant negative correlation with such conditions as arthritis, cancer, stomach complaints, elevated blood cholesterol, undergone surgery for complete joint replacement, visual defects, kidney and liver diseases. No significant correlation was found with depression, falls and stroke. Longitudinal studies on this topic are necessary to clarify the detected patterns and the possibility of generalising the results obtained, the authors of the paper conclude.