The facial feature that could mean you’re 2.5 times more likely to develop dementia

WRINKLES are a natural part of getting older, but some may reveal more than just your age.

Crow’s feet could be an early warning sign of dementia, according to scientists.

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The experts also reported that people who look older than their actual age are more likely to have symptoms of cognitive decline, which can be a precursor for the brain-eating disease.

Writing in the journal Alzheimer’s Research and Therapy, they said: “Facial ageing, both subjective and objective, may be an indicator of cognitive decline and dementia risk in older adults. 

“We found that high perceived facial age was associated with high risk of cognitive impairment and dementia”.

Nearly a million Brits have the disease and it is the leading cause of death.

In a two-part study, researchers from China’s Fudan University analysed data from 200,000 men and women.

During the first phase, participants with an average age of 64 were asked whether others thought they looked younger, older, or about their age.

Over a 12-year-period, around 6,000 cases of dementia were recorded.

Those thought of as looking older were 61 per cent more likely to develop dementia.

Meanwhile, 23 per cent more likely to develop Alzheimer’s, the most common form of dementia.

And 74 per cent more likely to have unspecified types of dementia.

In the second part of the study, researchers photographed 612 men and women, averaging 63 years old, and analysed the images for age-related features.

They discovered that wrinkles in the crow’s feet area were linked to cognitive impairment, with individuals displaying more of these wrinkles being 2.5 times more likely to have it.

One theory the experts suggested is that excessive sun exposure could harm both skin and cognitive health.

Previous animal studies suggest that UV-induced skin ageing might impact the neuro-immune system, which plays a role in protecting brain cells.

NEW DRUGS

The study comes as lecanemab, the first drug shown to slow the progression of early stage Alzheimer’s, is approved for use in the UK.

Trials, which started in September 2021, showed it could slow cognitive decline by around a quarter in patients with early Alzheimer’s over the course of 18 months.

It’s now been licensed by the UK medicines regulator, the MHRA, which means it can be prescribed privately.

But the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has said “the benefits are too small to justify the cost”, so won’t be available on the NHS.

The price of the drug has not been publicly announced in the UK, but in the United States, it costs around £20,000 a year.

Fiona Carragher, chief policy and research officer at Alzheimer’s Society, said: “The MHRA’s approval of the first safe and effective Alzheimer’s disease treatment, shown to slow progression, is a defining moment for people with early-stage Alzheimer’s disease in the UK and a significant step towards a more hopeful future.

“But it is disappointing that NICE has not recommended approving lecanemab for use on the NHS at this stage.”

Lecanemab is an intravenous, antibody infusion therapy that removes amyloid beta protein from the brain in people with early Alzheimer’s disease.

Amyloid beta protein occurs naturally in the brain, but in people with Alzheimer’s disease, it builds up to toxic levels and forms plaques that disrupt cell function and kill brain cells.

Joan Murtaugh, 77, was one of the first people to take the drug. She joined a trial of the medicine after being diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment and high risk of Alzheimer’s.

Joan, from Ohio, said she is still able to live independently and her memory has improved.

She told The Sun: “I feel perfectly normal and I’m not having the issues that I was having.

“I’m totally functional and my memory is much better than it was.

“I’m very active, I drive regularly, I garden and cook, I read a number of books and I have my life back.”