Schizophrenia increases risk of senile dementia in old age

Schizophrenia increases the risk of developing senile dementia in old age by about 2.5 times, the University College London (UCL) press service reported, Psychological Medicine noted.

The authors analyzed the results of observations in nine different countries involving 13 million volunteers and found that schizophrenia is one of the most significant risks of dementia.

A small but significant proportion of those studied suffered from schizophrenia, which gave scientists the opportunity to study how the mental disorder, as well as some other diseases, affect the likelihood of developing dementia in old age. Researchers compared how often problems with mental clarity and memory occurred in volunteers with schizophrenia and people who did not suffer from mental disorders.

On average, schizophrenics were about 2.5 times more likely to develop dementia in their advanced years than the rest of the study participants, taking all possible additional factors into account.

Similarly, other psychiatric disorders have a similar effect on increasing the risk of developing dementia. Combating them, the researchers estimate, would reduce the number of cases of senile dementia by about 40% at the global level.

According to the World Health Organization, there are 55 million people worldwide with dementia. One of the most common causes is Alzheimer's disease.

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