Londoners could be at risk of contracting dementia due to the city's polluted air, scientists have warned. Researchers, who analysed dozens of studies, claimed environmental factors could increase the risk of people contracting dementia. Lack of vitamin D, air pollution, exposure to some types of pesticide, and excessive minerals in drinking water were all found to raise dementia risk. The University of Edinburgh’s lead scientist Dr Tom Russ said: "In the bigger cities like London there does tend to be poorer air quality so if a causal link is established you'd like to think that air quality controls would be put in place. "Our ultimate goal is to prevent or delay the onset of dementia. “Environmental risk factors are an important new area to consider here, particularly since we might be able to do something about them. "We found that the evidence is particularly strong for air pollution and vitamin D deficiency. “But we really need more research to find out whether these factors are actually causing dementia and how, and if so, what we can do to prevent this." About a third of a person's risk of developing dementia remains unexplained, pointing to the potential involvement of environmental factors. Commenting on the research, old age psychiatry expert at University College London, Professor Robert Howard, said: "There is robust evidence that head trauma and poor cardiovascular health increase dementia risk. “But most of the environmental factors identified in this review probably represent no realistic increase or only a vanishingly tiny increased risk for dementia. "If you want to avoid dementia, look after your heart and try to avoid getting knocked unconscious." Dr Tara Spires-Jones, interim director of the Centre for Cognitive and Neural Systems at the University of Edinburgh, pointed out: "The key word here is 'associated'. While this study was thoroughly conducted, an association, or statistical correlation, like this does not imply that any of these factors cause dementia. There could be another factor, related to the two, that is the cause." The findings are published in the journal BMC Geriatrics.
A lack of Vitamin D, polluted air, exposure to some pesticides and excessive minerals in drinking water can all raise the risk of dementia, researchers have said. The study was published online by Nature Ecology & Evolution on Wednesday. A third of dementia patients’ illness remains unexplained, leaving environmental factors as a likely cause.