Pulmonary function as a risk factor for dementia death: an individual participant meta-analysis of six UK general population cohort studies

Abstract

In these general population samples, the relation between three measures of lung function and dementia death followed a dose-response gradient. Being in the bottom quartile of lung function was associated with a doubling of the risk.

Physical fitness and dementia risk in the very old: a study of the Lothian Birth Cohort 1921

“…Contrary to the existing evidence within the literature [2–15], this study found that decreased fitness beyond age 79 was not a risk factor for subsequent dementia. More specifically, FEV 1 , grip strength and walking speed at age 79 years were not found to be associated with dementia.…”

“…Previous studies have repeatedly shown that poorer lung function, grip strength and walking speed are associated with increased risk for dementia [2–15]. The primary reason for this inconsistency may be that most previous studies have investigated the association in a younger population, or a population with a broader age range than the LBC1921 [2, 7]; the results of this study may differ simply because the results are specific to the oldest-old.…”

“…Several previous studies have therefore explored the potential association between physical fitness and dementia. Such studies have demonstrated that reduced pulmonary function [2–8], slow walking speed [9–13] and weak handgrip [9, 10, 14, 15] are associated with an increased risk of dementia. One might hypothesise that these findings reflect the importance of maintaining an optimal blood supply to the brain [16].…”

Geographical Variation in Dementia Mortality in Italy, New Zealand, and Chile: The Impact of Latitude, Vitamin D, and Air Pollution

“…Death certification is widely used in epidemiological studies to identify cases of dementia, though any mention of dementia on the death certificate is considered a better dependent variable than instances when dementia is recorded as the underlying cause of death, since many people with dementia die from something else [20,21]. Although this methodology has previously been criticised [22], more recent studies suggest that dementia reporting on death certificates is improving and seems to be sufficiently robust for epidemiological purposes, see for example a false-negative rate of 18% in a memory clinic population [12,20].…”

Should we use gait speed in COPD, FEV1in frailty and dyspnoea in both?

“…Reduced lung function is inversely related to blood glucose levels, diabetes duration and severity, and is independent of smoking or obesity [32]. Pulmonary function is a risk factor for other nonrespiratory diseases such as dementia [33]. Thus, FEV1 appears to be an independent risk factor for nonrespiratory diseases [34,35] and may be considered as a measure of physiological health that may improve risk stratification of noncommunicable disease patients.…”