The odds of developing dementia are strongly linked to the number of co-existing mental health disorders, rising from twice as high for one disorder to 11 times as high for four or more, finds research published in the open access journal BMJ Mental Health .

In particular, the combination of concurrent mood and anxiety disorders is linked to odds of dementia of up to 90%, the findings indicate.

Psychiatric disorders, such as depression , anxiety, and bipolar disorder , have been individually associated with an increased risk of dementia. But the existing body of research hasn’t assessed the impact of multiple co-existing psychiatric disorders, say the researchers.

In a bid to plug this knowledge gap, they drew on information extracted from the clinical database of the psychi

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