High red cell count also linked to dementia
There is a 22% increased risk of Alzheimer's for people in the haemoglobin category
Anaemia has been linked with dementia previously but a new study shows that high, as well as low, levels of haemoglobin appear to increase risk.
The large, population-based Dutch study is one of the few to investigate dementia risk across the spectrum of haemoglobin levels, revealing a U-shaped pattern.
“High haemoglobin may be deleterious, or reflect deleterious circumstances,” the researchers said.
They used data on more than 12,000 people without dementia aged 55 and over, and followed them for an average of 12 years.
