Emerging evidence highlights anemia as a potential risk marker associated with neurodegeneration and dementia in older adults. In a population-based cohort from the Swedish National Study on Aging and Care in Kungsholmen, 2,282 dementia-free individuals aged ≥60 years were followed for a mean of 9.3 years to examine associations between hemoglobin levels, Alzheimer’s disease biomarkers, and incident dementia. Anemia was cross-sectionally associated with higher levels of key neurodegenerative biomarkers, including phosphorylated tau 217, neurofilament light chain, and glial fibrillary acidic protein.
Longitudinally, anemia was linked to a significantly increased risk of dementia (hazard ratio [HR], 1.66). Notably, the risk was markedly higher when anemia coexisted with elevated biomarkers. For example, participants with anemia and high neurofilament light chain had an adjusted HR of…
