People whose biological age is higher than their chronological age can develop dementia rather than people whose biological age corresponds to or lower than their chronological age, according to a study published on April 30, 2025, online in Neurology®The Medical Journal of the American Academy of Neurology. Biological age is based on biomarkers of aging such as lung function, blood pressure and cholesterol.
The study does not prove that advanced biological age causes dementia; It only shows an association.
With the increasing impact of dementia around the world, identifying risk factors and implementing preventive measures is essential. Although none of us can change our chronological age, we can influence our biological age through lifestyle factors such as diet and exercise. “
Yacong Bo, PhD, Study Author of Zhengzhou University, China
The study included 280,918 participants in a database of the United Kingdom who was an average chronological age of 57 at the start of the study and had no dementia at that time. They were followed on average for 14 years. During that time, 4,770 people developed dementia.
The researchers used two methods to measure the biological age. In addition to lung function, blood pressure and cholesterol, the methods of other biomarkers in the blood measured, such as the average cell volume and the number of white blood cells. These methods show how different parts of the body, such as metabolism, immunity, liver, kidneys, heart and other systems, collaborate as we get older.
While the people who later developed dementia had an average chronological age of 65 at the start of the study compared to 57 for those who remained free of dementia, their average biological age 55 by one of the methods was compared to 45 for people without dementia.
When distributing the participants into four groups based on biological age, researchers discovered that those with the most advanced biological age were about 30% more likely to develop dementia than those in the lowest group. These results have been adjusted for other factors that can influence the risk of dementia, such as age, level of education and smoking status.
The researchers also discovered that people with an advanced biological age also had changes in their brains that are associated with dementia, such as loss of gray dust volume.
“These changes in the brain structure explain some, but not all, of the association between advanced biological age and dementia,” said Bo. “These results support the hypothesis that the advanced biological age can contribute to the development of dementia by causing a widespread change in brain structures.”
A limitation of the research was that participants in the database are usually more health -conscious than the general population, so they may have less chance of developing dementia.
The study was supported by the province of Henan and the governments of Zhengzhou in China.
Source:
Journal Reference:
Boy., et Alt Alto. (2025). Associations of accelerated biological aging with dementia and the brain structure mediation role. Neurology. doi.org/10.1212/WNL.000000000000213616.