Overview
- The peer-reviewed JAMA Network Open cohort of 2,282 dementia-free adults found that those with anemia faced a 1.7-times higher risk of developing dementia over about nine years.
- Participants with low hemoglobin also showed higher blood levels of Alzheimer’s-linked proteins p-tau217, neurofilament light (NfL), and glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) at the start of the study.
- Risk was highest when anemia occurred together with elevated biomarkers, including a 3.6-fold higher risk for people with both anemia and high NfL compared with those with neither.
- Dementia incidence was 4.4 cases per 100 person-years in participants with anemia versus 1.7 without, after accounting for age, education, chronic diseases, supplements, and inflammation markers.
- The authors say anemia may help stratify dementia risk because it is often treatable, though the observational design cannot prove causation and it remains unknown whether treating anemia reduces dementia.