Skip to main content

Advanced Biological Age Linked to Increased Risk for Incident Dementia

Medically reviewed by Carmen Pope, BPharm. Last updated on May 2, 2025.

By Elana Gotkine HealthDay Reporter

FRIDAY, May 2, 2025 -- Advanced biological age (BA) may be a risk factor for incident dementia, according to a study published online April 30 in Neurology.

Yacong Bo, Ph.D., from The Third Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University in China, and colleagues used data from the U.K. Biobank to examine the relationships of BA with incident dementia and explore underlying mechanisms. BA was evaluated using the Klemera-Doubal method biological age (KDM-BA) and PhenoAge algorithms. The apolipoprotein E (APOE) ε4 genotype and polygenic risk scores (PRSs) were used to assess the genetic risk for dementia.

The study included 280,918 participants. The researchers identified 4,770 cases of dementia recorded during a median follow-up of 13.58 years. Each standard deviation increase in KDM-BA and PhenoAge accelerations was associated with an increased incidence of dementia (hazard ratios, 1.14 and 1.15, respectively). The highest risk for dementia was seen for individuals with APOE ε4 and highest PhenoAge accelerations (hazard ratio, 4.20) compared with those with non-APOE ε4 and lowest PhenoAge accelerations, with a significant interaction effect. PRS did not have a significant modification effect on the association between BA accelerations and dementia, nor did APOE ε4 on the association between KDM-BA accelerations and dementia. The associations between BA accelerations and incident dementia were partially mediated by gray matter volume, cortical mean thickness, and cortical surface area, with the proportion-mediated percentage varying from 6.64 to 17.98 percent.

"Our findings suggested that advanced BA may contribute to changes in brain structures, thereby increasing susceptibility to dementia," the authors write.

Abstract/Full Text (subscription or payment may be required)

Disclaimer: Statistical data in medical articles provide general trends and do not pertain to individuals. Individual factors can vary greatly. Always seek personalized medical advice for individual healthcare decisions.

© 2025 HealthDay. All rights reserved.

Posted May 2025

Read this next

Swept-Source Anterior Segment OCT Can Help Distinguish Early Childhood Glaucoma

FRIDAY, May 23, 2025 -- The noninvasive swept-source anterior-segment optical coherence tomography (SS-ASOCT) can diagnose early-onset childhood glaucoma, according to a study...

Semaglutide Plus Intensive Behavioral Therapy Most Beneficial for Weight Loss

FRIDAY, May 23, 2025 -- Weight loss treatment combining personalized semaglutide with intensive behavioral therapy (IBT) yields weight loss similar to that reported in...

Higher Social Media Use Tied to Subsequent Depressive Symptoms in Youth

FRIDAY, May 23, 2025 -- Higher social media use is associated with greater subsequent depressive symptoms in children and adolescents, according to a study published online May 21...

More news resources

Subscribe to our newsletter

Whatever your topic of interest, subscribe to our newsletters to get the best of Drugs.com in your inbox.