The risk that Holocaust survivors will develop dementia is 1.21 times higher than that of people who did not experience the Holocaust. This finding emerged from a new study undertaken at the University of Haifa. “There are conflicting approaches to the question of the psychological impact of the horror of the Holocaust on survivors,” explains Prof. Stephen Levine, one of the authors of the study. “On the one hand, those who survived the Holocaust may have developed mechanisms that make them resistant to neurodegenerative diseases such as dementia. On the other, the trauma of the Holocaust may actually increase the risk of these diseases. In our study, we found that survivors are more likely to develop dementia.”

As Prof. Levine mentioned, there is a debate about the psychological impact of the Holocaust on survivors. In the current study, published in the Journal of Traumatic Stress, Dr. Arad Kodesh, Prof. Itzhak Levav, and Prof. Levine from the University of Haifa sought to examine the risk of developing dementia among Holocaust survivors. The characteristic symptoms of this disease include impaired cognitive capabilities and disruption of daily activities. The research population included 51,752 participants born prior to 1946, without any history of dementia, and who were alive as of 2012. The group was monitored for the development of dementia over the period 2013 – 2017.

The study found that of 10,781 participants who experienced the Holocaust, 1,781 (16.5%) developed dementia. Among the participants who did not experience the Holocaust, 3,803 (9.3%) developed dementia. After undertaking several advanced statistical analyses to account for factors such as sex, age, death during the monitoring period, and so forth, the researchers found that Holocaust survivors were 1.21 times more likely to develop dementia than their peers who did not experience the Holocaust.

“The study findings are clinically significant in terms of the long-term identification of dementia among Holocaust survivors, and they may also be relevant regarding crimes against humanity in general. The findings highlight the need for careful monitoring of cognitive decline in risk populations that experienced extreme and protracted trauma in general, and Holocaust survivors in particular. The findings are also important for the study of protracted stress situations as a risk factor for dementia,” concluded Prof. Levine.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)