A recent study found that people who have anxiety could have three times increased risk of developing dementia compared to those without anxiety. The study was published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. The study said that people aged between 60-70 years with chronic (persistent) anxiety were found to be more likely to develop dementia in which memory and decision-making are impaired, affecting daily activities.

Researchers, including ones from the University of Newcastle, UK said that people whose anxiety was resolved did not have a higher dementia risk compared to those who never had it. Therefore, the researchers suggested that successfully resolving anxieties could help reduce the risk of developing dementia.

Alzheimer’s Association defines dementia as “Dementia is not a single disease. It's an overall term to describe a collection of symptoms that one may experience if they are living with a variety of diseases, including Alzheimer's disease. Diseases grouped under the general term "dementia" are caused by abnormal brain changes. Dementia symptoms trigger a decline in thinking skills, also known as cognitive abilities, severe enough to impair daily life and independent function.”

Kay Khaing from the University of Newcastle and corresponding author of the study said, “The findings suggest that anxiety may be a new risk factor to target in the prevention of dementia and also indicate that treating anxiety may reduce this risk.”

Previous studies examining links between anxiety and dementia have usually measured anxiety at the beginning of the study, according to the authors. However, few studies have looked at how persistent anxiety, along with age when one develops anxiety, impacted dementia risk, they said.

For the study, the researchers included more than 2,000 individuals with an average age of 76 years, of whom close to 450 (21 per cent) had anxiety to begin with. The group was followed for over 10 years. During an intermediate follow-up after five years, the participants were deemed to have 'chronic anxiety’ if anxiety persisted and ‘new onset anxiety’ if they developed it.

Anxiety was measured using the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K10), a 10-item questionnaire used as a brief screen to identify distress levels.

Those with chronic anxiety and those who developed anxiety during the study had 2.8 and 3.2 times higher risks of having dementia, respectively, the authors found. The average time taken for dementia diagnosis from the study's start was 10 years, they said.

The authors said, “Chronic and new anxiety were associated with increased risk of all-cause dementia, and this association was significant in those 70 years and younger.”

They also found that anxiety resolved at follow-up lowered dementia risk levels down to those in people who never had anxiety. The authors wrote, “These results suggest that timely management of anxiety may be a viable strategy in reducing the risk of dementia.”

They said possible processes through which anxiety can heighten dementia risk can include inflammation and cell death, along with higher chances of such individuals engaging in unhealthy behaviours, such as physical inactivity and smoking.