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Is lipoprotein (a) protective of dementia?

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Abstract

Lipoprotein(a) [Lp(a)]–an established risk factor for vascular disease, has been suggested to be associated with risk of dementia, however no prospective evidence exists to support this finding. We aimed to assess the association of Lp(a) with dementia risk. Lp(a) concentration was assessed at baseline in a prospective cohort of 2532 men aged 42–61 years. During a median follow-up of 24.9 years, 228 new cases of dementia were recorded. Lp(a) was approximately log-linearly associated with dementia risk. In age-adjusted analysis, the hazard ratio for dementia in a comparison of extreme quartiles of Lp(a) levels was 0.68 (95 % CI: 0.47–0.99), which persisted after adjustment for several physical measures, history of coronary heart disease, smoking status, history of diabetes, serum lipids, alcohol consumption, and socio-economic status 0.68 (0.46–0.99). Lp(a) is protective of future dementia risk in a middle-aged male Caucasian population. Further research is needed replicate these findings.

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Acknowledgments

We thank the staff of the Kuopio Research Institute of Exercise Medicine and the Research Institute of Public Health and University of Eastern Finland, Kuopio, Finland for the data collection in the study.

Funding

This work was supported by the Academy of Finland, Helsinki, Finland; Finnish Foundation for Cardiovascular Research, Helsinki, Finland, and Finnish Cultural Foundation, Helsinki, Finland. These sources had no role in design and conduct of the study; collection, management, analysis, and interpretation of the data; and preparation, review, or approval of the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Clinical Sciences, Learning and Research Building (Level 1), Southmead Hospital, University of Bristol, Southmead Road, Bristol, BS10 5NB, UK

    Setor K. Kunutsor

  2. Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, USA

    Hassan Khan

  3. Eastern Finland Laboratory Center, Department of Clinical Chemistry, University of Eastern Finland, Kuopio, Finland

    Kristiina Nyyssönen

  4. Institute of Public Health and Clinical Nutrition, University of Eastern Finland, Kuopio, Finland

    Kristiina Nyyssönen & Jari A. Laukkanen

  5. Central Finland Central Hospital, Jyväskylä, Finland

    Jari A. Laukkanen

Authors
  1. Setor K. Kunutsor
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  2. Hassan Khan
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  3. Kristiina Nyyssönen
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  4. Jari A. Laukkanen
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Correspondence to Setor K. Kunutsor.

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Kunutsor, S.K., Khan, H., Nyyssönen, K. et al. Is lipoprotein (a) protective of dementia?. Eur J Epidemiol 31, 1149–1152 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10654-016-0184-0

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