Analyzing bloodwork for anemia could be critical in helping people assess their risks for dementia and/or Alzheimer’s.
A recent study linked having anemia to a 56% higher risk of dementia. Those researchers say low hemoglobin and anemia are related to cognitive impairment and Alzheimer’s disease. Their research was published in Alzheimer’s & Dementia.
Meanwhile, a University of Kansas team suggested that iron can become hidden away in the brains of people with Alzheimer’s disease, which could lead to a deficiency that ramps up disease progression.This study appeared in Brain Sciences.
Iron is a must-have to produce blood. About 70% of iron is in hemoglobin, or red blood cells. And hemoglobin carries oxygen in the blood from the lungs to tissues in the body.
The study in Alzheimer’s & Dementia. comes after the ASPREE (ASPirin in Reducing Events in the Elderly) trial linked taking low-dose aspirin to a 20% increase in anemia and a decrease in blood iron levels in older adults who were largely healthy. Experts of that study warn doctors to monitor hemoglobin levels in older people taking aspirin. The research was published in Annals of Internal Medicine.
The suspected link between anemia and cognitive impairments and diseases is nothing new. In 2019, researchers looked at data from 12,305 people who didn’t have dementia and were, on average, 65 years old. At the start of the trial, 6.1% of them were anemic. Scientists also looked at brain scans from 5,319 of the people. And 12 years later, 1,520 of the people developed dementia.
In their research, low hemoglobin wasn’t the only problem. People with high and low hemoglobin levels had a higher risk of dementia compared with people with levels in the middle range, the researchers found. (The study linking anemia to a 56% increase in dementia only cites low hemoglobin.)
