It often starts inconspicuously: small decisions become more difficult, getting up in the morning seems more difficult, and conversations with friends or colleagues feel more strenuous than before. Especially in middle adulthood, many people attribute this to stress or age.

It is particularly worth taking a closer look at six depressive symptoms, like a new one study shows. Anyone who suffers from certain symptoms in midlife, i.e. between the ages of 40 and 60, has an increased risk of dementia. The supposedly harmless character changes are associated with an up to 50 percent higher risk of illness.

Six symptoms as a warning signal

What surprised the researchers: Six specific symptoms in particular seemed to be related to the personal risk of dementia.

1. Loss of self-confidence – 51 percent higher risk
2. Inability to face problems – 49 percent higher risk
3. Lack of feeling of warmth and affection towards others – 44 percent higher risk
4. Constantly being nervous and tense – 34 percent higher risk
5. Dissatisfaction with the way tasks are performed – 33 percent higher risk
6. Difficulty concentrating – 29 percent higher risk

“Everyday symptoms that many people experience in midlife seem to provide important information about the long-term health of the brain. Paying attention to these patterns could open up new opportunities for early prevention,” says Philipp Frank from University College London, commenting on his research results.

“The associations were independent of known risk factors for dementia, including APOE4 status (Apolipoprotein E4, genetic risk variant for Alzheimer’s dementia; Note d. Red.) cardiometabolic diseases and lifestyle factors,” the researchers continue.

Depression and dementia in focus

Researchers have repeatedly found that people diagnosed with depression in midlife have an increased risk of dementia. The new study, published in the journal “The Lancet Psychiatry,” also confirms this.

The researchers analyzed data from more than 5,800 British civil servants who completed a 30-part questionnaire between April 1997 and January 1999. The participants, who were on average 55.7 years old at the time, provided information about psychological stress such as stress, anxiety or depressive symptoms. Anyone who achieved five or more points in this “General Health Questionnaire” (GHQ-30) was considered depressed in the study.

Over an observation period of more than 22 years, 586 of the people developed dementia. For people who had a depressive disorder in midlife according to the criteria, the risk was actually 27 percent higher than for people without it.

Focus on depressive symptoms

According to the researchers, in people who were younger than 60 at the start of the study, the six symptoms even fully explained the connection between depression and dementia risk. In contrast, others showed depressive symptoms, including

no significant long-term association with dementia.

“Our results show that the risk of dementia is more related to a handful of depressive symptoms than to depression overall,” says Frank. “This symptom-focused approach gives us a much clearer picture of who may be at particular risk decades before the onset of dementia.”

Don’t panic about dementia if you’re depressed

Even if the new observational study breaks down the connections between dementia and depression to some extent, it does not say that the symptoms also causally lead to dementia.

In the paper, however, the researchers point out that the symptoms described lead to a decline in social engagement and less cognitively stimulating experiences can lead. Both are important for maintaining cognitive reserve – your brain’s ability to deal with damage or illness.

“There is some limited evidence that treating depression in midlife might reduce later dementia risk, but further research is needed to better understand how best to reduce the risk.” says Gill Livingston, also one of the authors of the study.

In addition, a majority of the participants were male (72 percent) and white (92 percent). More research is needed to confirm whether these six symptoms also apply to women and ethnic minorities.