Blood Group can Help Predict Risk of Dementia: Study

Your blood group can help detect risk of memory loss during old age, finds a study.

 A new research by the University of Vermont suggests an individual's blood group helps predict the possibility of developing memory loss and mental disabilities in old age. The trial involved over 30,000 American adults ages 45 and above to assess an association between blood type and mental capabilities. Nearly 495 were clinically diagnosed with thinking and cognitive decline in a span of three years.

These results were compared with a group of 587 healthy participants. Around six percent of the volunteers with AB as their blood group developed mental and cognitive ailments. This number exceeds the number of people with senile dementia and age induced thinking disabilities. The participants with AB blood group were 82 percent vulnerable to experiencing everyday problems and difficulties related to decline in language and attention skills that eventually translate to dementia.

In addition, the study also found people with O blood type were less likely to suffer cardiovascular illnesses and this kept their brains protected from the risk of memory loss.

"Our study looks at blood type and risk of cognitive impairment, but several studies have shown that factors such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes increase the risk of cognitive impairment and dementia," said Mary Cushman, study author and researcher at the University of Vermont College of Medicine, Burlington, reports the BBC.

"Blood type is also related to other vascular conditions like stroke, so the findings highlight the connections between vascular issues and brain health. More research is needed to confirm these results," added Cushman.

The authors are unsure if AB blood group had a strong link to the risk of dementia but, they advise people to incorporate healthy eating and lifestyle habits to keep the condition at bay.

 More information is available online in the Journal Neurology.