Is Metabolic Syndrome Associated with Young-Onset Dementia?

Because features of metabolic syndrome (MetS) like elevated waist circumference, blood pressure, glucose, and triglycerides lead to higher rates of late-onset dementia, these researchers hypothesized that MetS increases the risk for young-onset dementia (YOD). They used diagnostic codes from the Korean National Health Insurance Service Database to follow patients aged 40 to 60 years who met diagnostic criteria for MetS and identified those with incident YOD before age 65.

During a median follow-up of 8 years, patients with MetS had a significant, 24% higher risk for all-cause YOD than those without MetS. Risk for YOD was significantly higher in those without obesity (35%) than in those with obesity (16%), although both MetS groups had elevat…