Specific depression symptoms in midlife linked to higher risk of dementia

Having difficulty concentrating or losing personal confidence in midlife may put a person at an increased risk of dementia, according to a study.

Researchers said six specific symptoms of dementia in midlife may raise a person’s risk of dementia as they age.

Academics from University College London (UCL) said these symptoms could actually be “early markers of underlying neurodegenerative processes.”

The new study examined data on 5,811 people taking part in the UK Whitehall II study.

People involved with the study were asked about their health, including questions about their mental health.

During a follow-up period of an average of 23 years, 586 people developed dementia.

Writing in the journal Lancet Psychiatry, researchers said six depressive symptoms “emerged as robust midlife indicators of increased dementia risk.”

These included; losing confidence; being unable to face up to problems; not feeling warmth and affection for others; feeling nervous and strung-up all the time; being unsatisfied with the way tasks are carried out; and having difficulties concentrating.

Those who reported that they had lost confidence in themselves in midlife appeared to carry a 51% increased risk of dementia in later life.

People who said they were “not able to face up to their problems” had a 49% increased risk.

Reporting “not feeling warmth and affection for others” had a 44% raised risk while feeling nervous and “strung up” held a 34% rise in risk of dementia later in life.

Those who were not satisfied with the way tasks are carried out had a 33% increased risk of dementia more than 20 years later, while those who reported difficulties concentrating had a 29% elevated risk.

“A distinct set of midlife depressive symptoms was associated with an increased risk of dementia, suggesting that these symptoms might be early markers of underlying neurodegenerative processes,” the authors wrote.

Lead author of the study, Dr Philipp Frank, from the UCL Division of Psychiatry, said: “Our findings show that dementia risk is linked to a handful of depressive symptoms rather than depression as a whole.

“This symptom-level approach gives us a much clearer picture of who may be more vulnerable decades before dementia develops.

“Everyday symptoms that many people experience in midlife appear to carry important information about long-term brain health.

“Paying attention to these patterns could open new opportunities for early prevention.”

Professor Mika Kivimaki, from the UCL Faculty of Brain Sciences, who leads the Whitehall II study and co-authored the paper, said: “Depression doesn’t have a single shape — symptoms vary widely and often overlap with anxiety.

“We found that these nuanced patterns can reveal who is at higher risk of developing neurological disorders.”

Commenting on the paper, Dr Richard Oakley, associate director of research and innovation at Alzheimer’s Society, said: “The connection between dementia and depression is complicated. It’s encouraging to see this new observational study begin to unpick how dementia and depression are interlinked.

“However, more research is needed to confirm whether these six symptoms also apply to women and ethnic minorities.

“It’s important to note that not everyone who has depression will go on to develop dementia, and people with dementia won’t necessarily develop depression.”

Dr Jacqui Hanley, head of research funding at Alzheimer’s Research UK, said: “Depression has many symptoms, so pinning down which ones are most strongly linked to dementia risk, and when in life they have the most impact, is helpful to informing future interventions.

“However, this study does have some limitations – researchers only looked at health records and relied on people self-reporting symptoms of depression, so the results only show there is a link, not that the symptoms cause dementia.

“They also only reported at the start of the study, so we don’t know how their mental health was during the whole study.

“The study doesn’t tell us how depressive symptoms may be linked to the brain changes that cause dementia, so further research involving a greater diversity of volunteers is needed here.

“What’s important to remember is that just because someone has depression doesn’t mean they will get dementia. Anyone with any concerns about their mental health and/or dementia risk should speak to their GP.”