Scientists List Health Conditions That May Signal Alzheimer’s Years Earlier

Scientists have just identified four broad types of medical condition that could help doctors identify the risk of Alzheimer’s disease a decade before symptoms develop—with the potential to help slash incidence rates in half. 

Alzheimer’s disease develops over decades, and some health conditions in midlife such as hypertension, hyperlipidemia and stroke have been linked to an increased risk later in life.  

However, more medical conditions could predict the development of this neurodegenerative disorder—with a study led by researchers at Vanderbilt Health having identified 70 such individual disorders.

“If we know the full inventory of medical conditions that predict Alzheimer’s disease development 10 or more years later, we can potentially intervene before clinical symptoms of memory and/or cognitive impairment become apparent, ” said paper author professor Xue Zhong in a statement.

“It is projected that delaying the onset of Alzheimer’s disease by just five years could cut the incidence rate in half.”  

To systematically identify medical conditions associated with the development of Alzheimer’s disease, the researchers analyzed de-identified electronic health records (EHRs) from two independent databases.  

They used MarketScan, a U.S. claim-based database with over 150 million individuals, as a discovery cohort and Vanderbilt Health’s EHR system, which includes about 3 million patients, as an independent cohort to validate the discovery cohort findings.  

The researchers identified 43,508 individuals with an Alzheimer’s disease diagnosis and 419,455 age- and sex-matched controls in the MarketScan database and 1,320 cases and 12,720 matched controls in the Vanderbilt Health system.  

By tracking EHRs over a 10-year window before an Alzheimer’s disease diagnosis and comparing the EHRs between cases and controls, the researchers identified more than 70 conditions that appeared in both databases. 

These include mental health conditions (e.g., depression and severe neuropsychiatric symptoms such as paranoia/psychosis and suicidal ideation); neurologic and sleep-related conditions like insomnia, hypersomnia and sleep apnea; cardiovascular/circulatory conditions such as essential hypertension, cerebral atherosclerosis and cerebral ischemia; and endocrine/metabolic conditions, for example type 2 diabetes. 

The authors noted that EHR associations do not prove a causal role for the conditions, but they do offer a data-driven road map for earlier risk recognition and prevention-focused research.  

“Longitudinal EHRs offer a powerful view into the decades-long development of Alzheimer’s disease,” Zhong said. “By identifying medical patterns that consistently precede Alzheimer’s disease, we can unlock new opportunities for risk reduction, early intervention and improved patient outcomes.”  

According to Zhong, the study confirms that hypertension and hypercholesterolemia are risk factors for developing late-life Alzheimer’s disease, suggesting that addressing these conditions in midlife—through healthier lifestyles or the use of medications—may reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s disease. 

Throughout the study, the researchers also observed an inverse association between cancer and Alzheimer’s disease across both EHR datasets, replicating prior epidemiologic findings. 

“We are now investigating the mechanisms underlying this phenomenon, with the goal of generating insights that could inform novel therapeutic strategies for Alzheimer’s disease,” Zhong said. 

Do you have a tip on a health story that Newsweek should be covering? Do you have a question about Alzheimer’s disease? Let us know via [email protected].  

Reference

Zhong, X., Jia, G., Yin, Z., Chen, R., Cheng, K., Rzhetsky, A., Li, B., & Cox, N. J. (2025). Longitudinal analysis of electronic health records reveals medical conditions associated with subsequent Alzheimer’s disease development. Alzheimer’s Research & Therapy, 17(1), 263. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13195-025-01914-4