Two separate studies on the risks of dementia have identified factors that could trigger its development. According to experts, depression and listening to loud music could make the brain age faster, making individuals vulnerable to the chronic and degenerative disorder.
The first study, published in the journal Psychological Medicine probed the links between dementia and poor mental health in older adults. Experts looked into data of 71,000 participants, where some have been diagnosed with a spectrum of clinical depression.
To ensure the integrity of the study, the researchers did not analyze the data of those who had already been diagnosed with dementia. The researchers, however, found out that a large number of participants with clinical depression exhibited symptoms associated with dementia, compared to those who did not have any mental health condition. These symptoms included memory loss, poor cognitive ability, slower information processing and poor decision-making skills.
"Our populations are aging at a rapid rate," study author Darya Gaysina said in explaining the significance of their findings. "The number of people living with decreasing cognitive abilities and dementia is expected to grow substantially over the next 30 years," she added, suggesting that mental health programs be improved for aging people.
The second study, on the other hand, looked into the links between hearing loss and dementia. The findings were published in the journal eNeuro.
Experts tapped 35 participants from the ages of 18 to 41 for an MRI scan as they listened to messages from the speaker. Initially, the study was supposed to look into their brain activities but when the experts learned that many of the younger participants exhibited hearing problems, they decided to shift the direction of their research.
The researchers noticed that younger participants without any hearing problems processed information on just their brain's left hemisphere. Those with hearing impairments, on the other hand, used both side of their brains, including the right frontal cortex, which is only more active in old age.
"It shouldn't be happening until people are at least older than 50," study author Yune Lee said. "Their brains already know that the perception of sound is not what it used to be and the right side starts compensating for the left," he added.
The expert advised for young people to be more aware of how much noise they expose themselves to, such as listening to loud music in order to avoid the risk of hearing loss and prevent the development of dementia in old age.
