Two subtle midlife signs could signal a 50% higher risk of dementia decades later, scientists warn

The study, which appears in The Lancet Psychiatry, suggests these patterns could show up decades before any cognitive decline becomes apparent.

"Paying attention to these patterns could open new opportunities for early prevention," explained the study's lead author from UCL's psychiatry division, Dr Philipp Frank.

The researchers pinpointed six depression-related symptoms that were tied to greater dementia risk in later life, with "losing confidence in myself" and "not able to face up to problems" being two of the strongest predictors.

But the list also featured "not feeling warmth and affection for others", "feeling nervous and strung-up all the time", "not being satisfied with the way tasks are carried out" and "difficulties concentrating".

Interestingly, scientists discovered it is these specific symptoms, rather than depression as a broader condition, that seem to matter most.

The findings suggest that certain emotional and cognitive struggles in your fifties could be telling you something important about your future brain health.

Losing self-confidence and struggling to cope with problems in midlife were each linked with around a 50 per cent higher risk of developing dementia.

Feeling emotionally distant from others came with a 44 per cent increase, while the remaining symptoms showed risk increases of between 24 and 29 per cent.

The team drew on data from the Whitehall II study, which followed nearly 6,000 British civil servants over time.

Participants joined at an average age of 56, with roughly 90 per cent being white and 70 per cent men.

Over an average follow-up period of 23 years, about 10 per cent went on to develop dementia.

"Our findings show that dementia risk is linked to a handful of depressive symptoms rather than depression as a whole," Frank said.

"This symptom-level approach gives us a much clearer picture of who may be more vulnerable decades before dementia develops."

Professor Mika Kivimaki, who heads the Whitehall II study at UCL's faculty of brain sciences, pointed out that depression isn't one-size-fits-all.

"Depression doesn't have a single shape; symptoms vary widely and often overlap with anxiety," he said. "We found that these nuanced patterns can reveal who is at higher risk."

The research comes at a crucial time. According to the Alzheimer's Society, around 982,000 people in the UK currently live with dementia, and that figure is expected to climb sharply as the population ages.