Approved Research

Lifestyle, physical activity, social isolation, the experience of pain, and mental health and the risk of developing stroke, dementia, and post-stroke dementia: A cohort study based on the UK Biobank.

Lay summary

Increasing shared risk (such as sedentary lifestyle) and protective factors (such as a rich social network) have been identified for stroke and dementia in recent years, both of which are severe global health concerns. The identification of these preventable factors can significantly reduce the incidence of stroke and dementia, and ease the heavy economic and social burden caused by them. Considering the limited treatment methods for both stroke and dementia, identifying more risk and protective factors is of great priority. However, due to the relatively low incidence of both stroke and dementia, it is difficult to investigate different types of exposures in a large cohort. In recent years, more and more prospectively collected data is available in the UK biobank, which provides an effective way for us to explore the internal connection between exposures and disease of interest. The correlation of modifiable exposures including lifestyle, physical activity, social isolation, mental health, and experience of pain and the occurrence of stroke, dementia, and post-stroke dementia will be fully investigated in this study, which will provide new directions for people to prevent stroke and dementia. What's more, the genetic data, biochemistry markers, and the use of medications will also be analyzed to further identify risk and protective factors, which can help us identify vulnerable populations and initiate the prevention in advance. The project is expected to last 36 months.