Iron deficiency anaemia has previously been linked with a string of serious health issues like heart disease and kidney failure
Being low in iron could increase your risk of dementia and accelerate symptoms, research suggests.
Anaemia has previously been linked to serious health problems including heart disease and kidney failure. But now researchers have discovered a link between the two conditions. They found low iron reserves may not only increase the risk of getting the disease but also reduce the brain’s resilience to it. It is particularly pronounced in men, according to the findings.
Some eight per cent of women and three per cent of men in the UK have anaemia, which is caused by a lack of resources in the blood used to carry enough oxygen around the body. Symptoms typically include tiredness, shortness of breath and heart palpitations. Iron deficiency anaemia can be the result of a lack of iron in the diet, but heavy periods and pregnancy are also common factors.
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The study, conducted by researches at Stockholm University and published in the journal JAMA Neurology, followed 2,300 over-60s who did not have dementia for nine years, tracking how changes in iron levels influenced Alzheimer’s risk. Blood was collected at the start of the study and analysed for levels of tau, a protein which gathers and tangles in the brain, thought to be behind Alzheimer’s symptoms.
Levels of haemoglobin, a protein in red blood cells that carries oxygen around the body and which iron helps to make, were also recorded. Anaemia was defined as blood haemoglobin levels of 120g per litre or less for women and 130g per litre or less for men.
Those with anaemia were 66 per cent more likely to develop Alzheimer’s than those with normal haemoglobin levels. Low haemoglobin was also associated with higher levels of the tau protein p-tau217 – believed to be the most specific blood marker for Alzheimer’s.
Anaemia was associated with higher dementia risk in men than women, despite more women being affected by the deficiency. Researchers said: “While females tend to have lower haemoglobin levels and higher anaemia prevalence in early life due to reproductive factors, anaemia in males is less common, frequently driven by disease, inflammation or deficiencies. Females’ lower baseline haemoglobin levels might confer greater tolerance to anaemia, buffering its impact on brain health. Our findings suggest anaemia is a factor in dementia risk and is possibly a modifiable target in dementia prevention strategies.”
