MAG 2025. Authors: Peter Alders (Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam – Erasmus School of Health Policy Management), Bram Wouterse (Radboud University Medical Centre), Kay Deckers (University Maastricht, Department of Psychiatry and Neuropsychology).
The number of people living with dementia in the Netherlands is expected to increase from 261.000 in 2022 to 506.000 in 2050. Because effective medication to treat or prevent dementia has not been found yet, the prevention of dementia has become more and more important.
Evidence is summing up that decreasing air pollution can prevent a percentage of cases of dementia. However, almost no research has been done on the relationship between dementia and air pollution with a large dataset. By combining data of the Geoscience and Health Cohort Consortium (Gecco) on small particles (PM2.5) and of Vektis data on dementia, we can give more insight in this relationship. We investigate whether the decrease in air pollution over the last decades has contributed to a decline in the risk on developing dementia. And whether people who have moved have a different risk of developing dementia than the people that stayed.
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