The results of a long-term study published online in the Journal of Neurology Neurosurgery & Psychiatry show that men with heart disease risk factors may have dementia onset a decade earlier — from their mid-50s. Mid-70s — Compared to similarly affected women who are most susceptible in their mid-60s to mid-70s.
Researchers at Imperial College London, UK, found that the most vulnerable brain regions are those involved in auditory information, aspects of visual perception, emotional processing and memory processing. They noted that the deleterious effects were just as pronounced in those who did not carry the high-risk APOE4 gene — a genetic risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease — as those who did.
“The deleterious effect of cardiovascular risk was widespread across cortical regions, highlighting how cardiovascular risk can affect a range of cognitive functions,” the researchers said.
The study included 34,425 participants from the UK Biobank, all of whom had both abdominal and brain scans. Their average age was 63, but ranged from 45 to 82.
The results showed that both men and women with increased levels of abdominal fat and visceral adipose tissue had lower brain gray matter volume.
Cardiovascular risk and obesity lead to a gradual loss of brain volume over decades, the researchers said.
The team thus emphasized the need to target “modifiable cardiovascular risk factors, including obesity” to treat or prevent neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s.
The study also emphasizes the importance of “aggressively targeting cardiovascular risk factors before age 55 to prevent neurodegeneration and Alzheimer’s disease.” They may also prevent other cardiovascular events, such as myocardial infarction [heart attack] and stroke”.
Although this study is observational and no firm conclusions can be drawn, early targeting of cardiovascular risk and obesity may be important.