Half of women will suffer dementia, Parkinson's disease or a stroke during lifetime, new study suggests

Nearly half of women will develop dementia, be diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease or suffer a stroke in their lifetime, according to new research.

Women are disproportionately affected by the conditions compared to men, about a third of whom are likely to be struck down at some point, a three-decade study of more than 12,000 people found.

But researchers at Erasmus University Medical Centre Rotterdam, in the Netherlands, said preventative measures could “substantially” reduce the burden of the illnesses.

Participants were all under the age of 45 when the study began in 1990. They each received thorough a health check every four years until 2016 or until they died.

During this period, 1,489 were diagnosed with dementia, 263 were diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, and 1,285 had a stroke.

The overall risk of a 45-year-old later developing one of the three conditions was 48 per cent for women and 36 per cent for men, researchers said.

“The gender difference was largely driven by women being at heightened risk of developing dementia before men,” said study author Arfan Ikram, the centre’s chair of epidemiology.

About 61 per cent of people with dementia in the UK are women, partly because of their longer life expectancy, previous studies have shown.

Dr Ikram added: “But there were other gender differences in risk.

“While 45-year-olds of both sexes had a similar lifetime risk of stroke, men were at substantially higher risk of having a stroke at younger ages than women. And women were twice as likely as men to be diagnosed with both dementia and stroke during their lifetime.”

Those diagnosed with one of the three conditions were found to have a higher prevalence of high blood pressure, abnormal heart rhythm, high cholesterol and type 2 diabetes at the start of the monitoring period.

“These findings strengthen the call for prioritising the focus on preventative interventions at population level which could substantially reduce the burden of common neurological diseases in the ageing population,” researchers said.

They estimated that if onset of dementia, Parkinson’s disease and stroke was delayed by one to three years, the remaining risk of developing the conditions could be cut by 20 per cent among 45-year-olds and more than half in those older than 85.

Carol Routledge, director of research at Alzheimer’s Research UK, said the findings showed it was “crucial” to increase efforts to find a drug which can delay the onset of dementia.

Experts added the findings illustrated the importance of a healthy lifestyle.

Dr Routledge said: “This large study underscores the enormous impact that neurological illnesses have across society and how women are disproportionately affected, particularly when it comes to dementia.

“For most of us, our individual risk of illnesses like dementia is not set in stone and there are things we can all do to help maintain a healthy brain.

“The best current evidence suggests that eating a balanced diet, controlling our weight, staying physically active, not smoking, only drinking within the recommended limits and keeping blood pressure and cholesterol in check are all associated with better brain health into old age.”

James Pickett, head of research at Alzheimer’s Society, said: “This study further highlights the well-established fact that women are at a greater risk of dementia than men, but shows how taking proactive healthy lifestyle measures can significantly lessen that dementia risk, regardless of age.

“As researchers found that people who had dementia were more likely to have had high blood pressure or type 2 diabetes, what we can take from this is that healthy lifestyle choices such as eating a Mediterranean-style diet, exercising regularly and not smoking can make a real impact on reducing dementia risk, and it’s never too late to start.”