Within the area of geriatric epidemiology, our research focuses on cardiovascular and metabolic disorders, nutrition, and dementing disorders. We study how cardiovascular/metabolic disorders, organ function, and nutrition relate to brain pathologies and dementia risk, explore compensatory factors that may support healthier cognitive aging, and examine care utilization among people with dementia.
We have the following specific research lines:
Cardiometabolic multimorbidity and incident dementia: the Swedish twin registry.
Dove A, Guo J, Marseglia A, Fastbom J, Vetrano DL, Fratiglioni L, Pedersen NL, Xu W
Eur Heart J 2023 Feb;44(7):573-582
Association of impaired kidney function with dementia and brain pathologies: A community-based cohort study.
Wang S, Wang J, Dove A, Guo J, Yang W, Qi X, Bennett DA, Xu W
Alzheimers Dement 2022 Dec;():
Association of Lifespan Cognitive Reserve Indicator With Dementia Risk in the Presence of Brain Pathologies.
Xu H, Yang R, Qi X, Dintica C, Song R, Bennett DA, Xu W
JAMA Neurol 2019 Oct;76(10):1184-1191
Associations Between Cardiovascular Risk, Structural Brain Changes, and Cognitive Decline.
Song R, Xu H, Dintica CS, Pan KY, Qi X, Buchman AS, Bennett DA, Xu W
J Am Coll Cardiol 2020 May;75(20):2525-2534
Body Mass Index Trajectories Preceding Incident Mild Cognitive Impairment and Dementia.
Guo J, Wang J, Dove A, Chen H, Yuan C, Bennett DA, Xu W
JAMA Psychiatry 2022 Dec;79(12):1180-1187
Cardiometabolic multimorbidity accelerates cognitive decline and dementia progression.
Dove A, Marseglia A, Shang Y, Grande G, Vetrano DL, Laukka EJ, Fratiglioni L, Xu W
Alzheimers Dement 2022 Jun;():
Association of cardiovascular risk burden with risk of dementia and brain pathologies: A population-based cohort study.
Song R, Pan KY, Xu H, Qi X, Buchman AS, Bennett DA, Xu W
Alzheimers Dement 2021 Dec;17(12):1914-1922
Shared risk and protective factors between Alzheimer's disease and ischemic stroke: A population-based longitudinal study.
Wang R, Qiu C, Dintica CS, Shang Y, Calderón Larrañaga A, Wang HX, Xu W
Alzheimers Dement 2021 Feb;17(2):191-204
Association of diabetes with stroke and post-stroke dementia: A population-based cohort study.
Shang Y, Fratiglioni L, Marseglia A, Plym A, Welmer AK, Wang HX, Wang R, Xu W
Alzheimers Dement 2020 Jul;16(7):1003-1012
Can active life mitigate the impact of diabetes on dementia and brain aging?
Marseglia A, Darin-Mattsson A, Kalpouzos G, Grande G, Fratiglioni L, Dekhtyar S, Xu W
Alzheimers Dement 2020 Nov;16(11):1534-1543
Aging Research Center, Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society
Karolinska Institutet
SE-171 77 Stockholm
Tomtebodavägen 18 A, Widerström Building, floors 9 and 10
SE-171 65 Solna
Cardiometabolic diseases (CMDs, including heart disease, stroke and type 2 diabetes) increase the risk of dementia. The goal of this project is to advance our understanding of the biological mechanisms underlying the co-occurrence of CMDs and dementia, and to discover novel compensatory mechanisms against CMD-associated dementia. We aim to identify novel metabolic pathways underlying the co-occurrence of CMDs and dementia and investigate whether compensatory mechanisms related to cognitive reserve, healthy diet, and CMD medications can buffer the risk effect of CMDs on dementia.
Dementia is one of the major causes of disability and dependence, and its impact on healthcare systems leads to an enormous burden on our current and future society. The goal of this project is to provide evidence supporting timely and personalized care for people with cognitive disorders (mild cognitive impairment [MCI] and dementia). We explore care needs and care utilization among people with MCI and dementia and capture their changes depending on disease progression, comorbidities, and social context, and compare dementia cases diagnosed at specialized settings with undiagnosed cases (identified in population-based cohort studies) to detect potentially different care trajectories.
Consuming a balanced, nutritious diet is important for maintaining health, especially as individuals age. The main objective of our research is to examine the role of diet (inflammatory diet) and nutrition (protein intake) with age-related cognitive decline, and brain age using large population-based longitudinal studies. By investigating diet in conjunction with genetic and cardiometabolic risk factors, we aim to clarify how diet can be harnessed to promote healthy aging.
The use of medication among older people is complicated in many ways, especially among people with multiple illnesses. This is due to the fact that aging causes physical changes that lead to increased sensitivity to many medications, and consequently, an increased risk of medication side effects, especially if the use of medication is extensive. A large problem is that care of the elderly is now often divided and there are no good conditions for the organisation of medication prescriptions for the elderly. Our research aims to improve the quality in the use of medication among the elderly.