Researchers found that older adults with larger waistlines, high blood pressure, and other factors that make up “metabolic syndrome” may be at a higher risk for memory loss. It is published now in an online issue of “Neurology.”
It’s another look at how to keep an aging brain strong.
Metabolic syndrome, often called pre-Diabetes, is a dangerous condition that means you have three or more of these risk factors:
- high blood pressure;
- excess belly fat;
- higher than normal triglycerides (a type of fat found in the blood);
- high blood sugar; and
- low high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, or “good” cholesterol.
This syndrome has also been tied to an increased risk of heart attack.
For the study, more than 7,000 adults over 65 from three French cities were tested for metabolic syndrome. A total of 16% of them were discovered to have metabolic syndrome. Participants were given a series of memory and cognitive function tests two and four years later. These included a memory test, a test of visual working memory and a test of “word fluency.”
Researchers found that people who had metabolic syndrome were 20% more likely to have cognitive decline on the memory test than those who were free of the syndrome. People with metabolic syndrome also were 13% more likely to have cognitive decline on the visual working memory test.
And specifically, higher triglycerides and low HDL cholesterol were linked to poorer memory scores. Having diabetes was linked to poorer visual working memory and word fluency scores.
This helps shed light on how metabolic syndrome and its various factors affect our brain’s health. If we can manage the factors that contribute to the syndrome, then we can help slow down age-related memory loss. Or even delay the onset of dementia.
Dr. Victor Marchione received his Bachelor of Science Degree in 1973 and his Medical Degree from the University of Messina in 1981. He has been licensed and practicing medicine in New York and New Jersey for over 20 years.
Dr. Marchione is a respected leader in the field of smoking cessation and pulmonary medicine. He has been featured on ABC News and World Report, CBS Evening News with Dan Rather and the NBC Today Show and is an editor at the popular Doctor's Health Press website.
Dr. Marchione has also served as Principal Investigator in at least a dozen clinical research projects relating to serious ailments such as bronchitis, pneumonia, asthma, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
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