Mennesker with dementia may experience increased levels of pain years before a diagnosis, says a new undersøgelse fra France.  

Forskere from the University of Paris analyzed a dataset fra a long-term study (nearly 27 years) of health in more than 9,000 British government employees. Using a survey conducted multiple times over the course of the study, researchers measured pain intensity and pain interference of the participants, who were between the ages of 35 og 55.  

During the survey, 567 deltagere developed dementia, og those who did self-reported experiencing significantly more pain that those who did not. Some of those with dementia said they felt slightly higher pain levels as early as 16 years before their diagnosis. Researchers suggested that chronic pain might be an early symptom of dementia. 

Read more about this study on the National Institute on Aging internet side.