Bowel disease linked to doubled dementia risk

PARIS: Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) -- including colitis and Crohn’s disease -- correlates with a doubled risk of developing dementia, scientists reported on Wednesday in the journal Gut.

Moreover, various forms of dementia were diagnosed some seven years earlier in people with IBD compared to those without the condition, the study showed. While the cause of IBD is not clear, it is thought to develop from an impaired immune response to changes in the microbiome -- the community of microorganisms that live in the body.

Recent research has revealed previously unsuspected linkages between our gut, central nervous system, and the microbiome. This "gut-brain axis" is implicated in various aspects of health and disease.

Other research, meanwhile, has shown that IBD might play a role in the development of Parkinson’s disease. But it remained unclear if IBD was also linked to a heightened risk of dementia.

To find out more, a team led by Chen Mu-Hong, a doctor at Taipei Veterans General Hospital, drew on data for 1,742 people aged 45 and over who had been diagnosed with either ulcerative colitis or Crohn’s disease between 1998 and 2011.