United States: A new study finds that men with heart risk factors lose brain health faster than women with similar risks. Men who actually start to experience the brain decline as early as their mid-50s, while women are really more likely to face it in their mid-60s.
The study was published in the Journal of Neurology Neurosurgery and Psychiatry.
“These results make cardiovascular risk reduction a significant therapeutic goal in Alzheimer’s disease prevention and imply that this must be approached much more rigorously a decade prior in men than in women.”
As reported by the HealthDay, in background notes, the researchers pointed out that conditions such as type 2 diabetes and hypertension, being overweight and smoking have been linked in previous studies to increased risk of dementia.
However, it has not been established when these sources that affect heart health start affecting the brains or if there are gender differences, scientists pointed out.
For the study, investigators used data gathered on over 34,500 individuals from the UK Biobank – a long-term research endeavour involving tens of thousands of participants.
Patient cerebral changes were assessed using imaging scans and other recorded data and the participants’ heart disease risk factors were computed accordingly.
Studies proved that unhealthy cholesterol levels or ‘bad’ cholesterol levels were the primary culprits that led to slow brain shrinkage over the decades of both male and female participants.
Nevertheless, to the detrimental effects, the vulnerability of males was most expressed between 55-74, while that of females – between 65-74 years.
This risk to their brain health was regardless of their carriers or non-carriers to the APOE4 gene that makes a person more prone to the disease: Alzheimer’s.
The temporal lobes, the scientists said, are the most sensitive to heart risk factors. These regions are associated with memory and the integration of hearing, vision and emotional response and are among the first to be affected by dementia.
“The adverse effects of cardiovascular risk were documented across the board … illustrating how cardiovascular risk can degrade a host of cognitive faculties,” the researchers said.