Studies Link Heart, Diabetes Risks with Dementia
Brain
In one study, U.S. researchers found the same cluster of metabolic disorders that raise a woman’s risk for heart disease and diabetes also increase her chances of memory declines later in life.
A second study found that a history of diabetes and high cholesterol hasten the rate of mental declines in people with Alzheimer’s disease.
“Preventing heart disease, stroke and diabetes - or making sure these conditions are well managed in patients diagnosed with them - can potentially slow the disease progression of Alzheimer’s,” said Yaakov Stern of Columbia University Medical Center, whose study was one of several on metabolic diseases and dementia published in the Archives of Neurology.
The findings build on recent studies that suggest people who take cholesterol-lowering drugs known as statins have a lower risk of developing all forms of dementia. And diabetics who take pills that help their bodies use insulin better have a lower risk of Alzheimer’s.
Now many teams are trying to get a better understanding of how these disorders affect Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia.
Researchers at the University of California San Francisco and the San Francisco Veterans’ Affairs Medical Center studied the effects of heart risk factors such as abdominal fat, high blood pressure and low levels of good cholesterol, known collectively as the metabolic syndrome.
Dr. Kristine Yaffe and colleagues followed 4,895 women with an average age of 66 who had no memory problems or other cognitive impairment at the beginning of the study.
Of the nearly 500 women in the group who had metabolic syndrome, 36 percent developed cognitive impairment during the four-year study period, compared with just 4 percent of the 4,400 women who did not have metabolic syndrome.
Leave a Reply