ORLANDO, Fla. – In the US, over 50 million people experienced chronic pain in 2021. Worldwide, over 55 million people are living with dementia, with 10 million new cases every year. Scientists at UT Health San Antonio are looking into chronic pain, inflammation and dementia.
Arthritis, back pain, inflammation, and even cancer are common causes of chronic pain. In a study of 500,000 UK participants, it was discovered the longer the pain lasts, the higher your risk of developing dementia. In another study, doctors at UT Health San Antonio concluded that pain triggers immune cells to create neuroinflammation that can lead to changes in brain function.
Sudha Seshardi, MD, Founding Dir., Glenn Biggs Institute for Alzheimer’s & Neurodegenerative Diseases at UT Health San Antonio says. “In the study that we had looked at, with framing participants and cardiovascular health study participants, we had seen that the higher markers of soluble CD-14 predicted a higher risk of developing dementias of all types – it was like they were ‘aging faster.’”
New studies are showing that people who have experienced inflammation and chronic pain for more than three months are at a higher risk of developing dementia.
Seshardi said, “The risk of developing dementia or stroke is multifactorial – a part of it is inflammation, a part of it is, perhaps, other things. So, we expect, that a multi-marker panel may tell an individual which part needs to be more aggressively treated.”
Research continues on ways to prevent dementia.
Seshardi said the only markers to determine someone’s risk are age, sex, and apoe, but her team is looking at adding blood markers to get a more accurate consensus.