"Elderly Standing on One Leg for Less Than 10 Seconds Have 2 to 3 Times Higher Risk of Dementia"

Chung-Ang University Gwangmyeong Hospital Professor Oh Yun-hwan's Research Team
Reveals Link Between Balance Disorders and Dementia
Alzheimer's Risk Doubled, Vascular Dementia Tripled
"Expecting Use as Predictive Factor for Dementia Onset"

A study has found that elderly individuals with balance disorders have a higher risk of developing dementia. The significance lies in presenting a potential indicator to predict future dementia risk by revealing the association between dementia and balance disorders.

Balancing on one foot. [Image source=Pixabay]

Professor Oh Yun-hwan from the Department of Family Medicine at Chung-Ang University Gwangmyeong Hospital, Professor Seo Ji-young from the Department of Otorhinolaryngology at Jeju National University Hospital, researcher Kim Hye-jun from Seoul National University, and Professor Jung Seok-song from CHA University, along with their research team, announced on the 30th that they confirmed the correlation between balance disorders and the incidence of newly diagnosed dementia.

Although previous studies have explored the relationship between dementia and balance disorders caused by motor impairments, these studies were limited by small sample sizes or focused on patients already exhibiting cognitive decline, making it difficult to verify the link between future dementia risk and current balance control ability.

Therefore, the research team utilized big data from the National Health Insurance Service to track and observe 143,788 elderly individuals who underwent health checkups between 2009 and 2017. The results showed that elderly individuals without current cognitive impairment but with balance disorders (standing on one leg for less than 10 seconds) had more than twice the risk of developing dementia in the future compared to those without balance disorders (standing on one leg for 20 seconds or more). By type, the risk was doubled for Alzheimer's disease and tripled for vascular dementia.

Professor Oh Yun-hwan of Chung-Ang University Gwangmyeong Hospital, Researcher Kim Hye-jun of Seoul National University, Professor Jeong Seok-song of CHA University. (from left)

The research team focused on the one-leg standing test as it evaluates motor control abilities, including the cerebellum. When the cerebellum loses some gray matter, it becomes difficult to maintain balance, and such gray matter loss is observed throughout the brain in early-onset Alzheimer's patients and between the temporal lobe and cerebellum in late-onset Alzheimer's patients. Researcher Kim Hye-jun suggested, "Gray matter loss may be the link between balance disorders and the onset of Alzheimer's disease."

Regarding the higher risk of vascular dementia, the team analyzed that microvascular changes in the brain due to aging are related to cognitive decline and impaired motor abilities. Professor Jung Seok-song explained, "Aging affects the frontal lobe, subcortical areas, and the connections between these regions, and microvascular changes caused by aging commonly occur in the periventricular white matter and basal ganglia." He added, "Recent studies suggest that these vascular changes can damage the connections between the frontal lobe and subcortical regions of the brain." He further stated, "These vascular changes explain the mechanism linking cognitive decline and motor impairment and provide an explanation for the high risk of vascular dementia observed in this study."

The research team emphasized the significance of identifying a new factor for predicting future dementia onset. Professor Oh Yun-hwan stated, "This study shows that the presence of balance disorders can be an important predictive factor for the risk of future dementia in elderly populations without prior diagnoses of stroke or cognitive impairment." He added, "It is particularly noteworthy that balance disorders are prominently associated with the risk of vascular dementia." Professor Seo Ji-young commented, "Early screening tests for balance control ability, when used alongside other physical and cognitive indicators, are expected to improve the accuracy of dementia risk prediction."

The study results were published in the SCIE-level international journal The Journal of Prevention of Alzheimer's Disease (IF=6.4).

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