Elevated Dementia Risk Linked to Acute Kidney Injury: Study Reveals - Video

A recent study published in the journal Neurology finds that acute kidney injury is linked to a higher risk of developing dementia.

Acute kidney injury (AKI), which involves a rapid decline in kidney function, is fairly common among older adults and is linked to higher rates of illness and death. Previous studies have suggested a potential link between AKI and brain injury.

The study explored the link between acute kidney injury (AKI) and various forms of dementia by analyzing data from over 300,000 individuals aged 65 and older. Approximately 25% of participants experienced at least one episode of Acute kidney injury during an average follow-up period of 12 years, and 16% were diagnosed with dementia.

Individuals who had Acute kidney injury faced a 49% higher risk of developing any type of dementia. When examining specific types of dementia, the risk was 88% higher for Lewy body dementia or dementia linked to Parkinson’s disease, 47% higher for vascular dementia, and 31% higher for Alzheimer’s disease. The risk was notably greater for those with severe kidney damage requiring hospitalization or inpatient care.

The subsequent phase of the research will focus on investigating the underlying biological mechanisms that connect acute kidney injury (AKI) to the development of dementia.

The researchers plan to examine how various medications, lifestyle modifications, and follow-up monitoring strategies following an episode of acute kidney injury might influence the risk of developing dementia.

Reference: Xu, H., Eriksdotter, M., Garcia-Ptacek, S., Ferreira, D., Ji, D., Bruchfeld, A., Xu, Y., & Carrero, J. J. (2024). Acute kidney injury and its association with dementia and specific dementia types. Neurology, 102(1), 123-134. https://doi.org/10.1212/WNL.0000000000209751