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Risk of dementia linked to falls in older adults in new study
The newly published research claims that the link between one of the most frequent adult injuries and the devitalizing disease may be more prominent than previously thought.
While the life-altering effects of Alzheimer’s and Dementia are well documented, the root causes of these devastating inflictions remain something of a mystery. Across the US and beyond, health experts are constantly searching for innovative new ways to uncover information about the source and potential treatment for neurodegenerative diseases, and a recently published study may have made something of a breakthrough by uncovering a potential link between a common everyday accident and Dementia diagnoses.
New study links ‘falls’ to Dementia diagnoses
The study, which was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association in late September, sought to investigate the link between older adults suffering from a fall, and subsequently receiving a Dementia diagnosis.
The paper was co-authored by seven medical researchers and analyzed over 2.4 million older adults who had suffered from a fall that resulted in “an emergency department visit or hospital admission”.
Of the studied patients, 10.6% of them went on to be diagnosed with Dementia in the following year – which, compared with other methods of injury, equated to a 21% higher chance of diagnosis.
The importance of the study is that the findings seemingly display that mild cognitive impairment, which is often a telltale sign of the early stages of Alzheimer’s or Dementia, can lead to older people suffering from falls.
So while the falls themselves don’t appear to lead to Dementia, if older people in your life are being admitted to hospital for such injuries – this may suggest that they could be encountering the early stages of the illness.
Research calls for cognitive screening
The main takeaway from the research is that if you or an older loved one has suffered from a bad fall, it may be worth undergoing a cognitive screening.
Cognitive screening is the term given to tests undertaken by a medical professional that are designed to test how efficiently your brain is functioning. The screenings typically consist of questions and answers, and do not require surgery or a medical procedure.
The recommendation made by the study is that when older adults are admitted to the hospital following a fall, they should be required to undergo a cognitive test – in order to detect any potential signs of cognitive decline or illness.
The study noted that falls are the most common injury among older adults, with 27.5% of elderly people in the US said to endure one each year – suggesting that this research could have a significant impact on the prevalence of cognitive screening in the country.
