A new study showed that men with cardiovascular disease risk factors such as type 2 diabetes, obesity, high blood pressure and smoking might lead to a decline in brain activity, leading to dementia, 10 years earlier than women. The study was published online in the Journal of Neurology Neurosurgery & Psychiatry and conducted by researchers from the Imperial College London, UK.

The findings of the study show that men with cardiovascular disease risk factors can have dementia onset a decade earlier, from their mid-50s to mid-70s than similarly affected women who are most susceptible from their mid-60s to mid-70s.

Alzheimer’s Association defines dementia as “Dementia is not a single disease. It's an overall term to describe a collection of symptoms that one may experience if they are living with a variety of diseases, including Alzheimer's disease. Diseases grouped under the general term "dementia" are caused by abnormal brain changes. Dementia symptoms trigger a decline in thinking skills, also known as cognitive abilities, severe enough to impair daily life and independent function.”

Researchers found that the most vulnerable regions of the brain are those involved in processing auditory information, aspects of visual perception, emotional processing and memory.

They said that the damaging effects are just as evident in those who didn’t carry the high-risk APOE4 gene, a genetic risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease, as those who did.

The researchers said, “The detrimental impact of cardiovascular risk was widespread throughout cortical regions, highlighting how cardiovascular risk can impair a range of cognitive functions.”

For the study, the researchers included 34,425 participants from the UK Biobank all of whom had 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 grey matter volume.

The researchers said that high cardiovascular risk and obesity led to a gradual loss of brain volume over several decades. The team thus stressed the need to target “modifiable cardiovascular risk factors, including obesity,” to treat or prevent neurodegenerative diseases, like Alzheimer’s.

The study also emphasises “the importance of aggressively targeting cardiovascular risk factors before the age of 55 years to prevent neurodegeneration and Alzheimer’s disease”. These may also prevent other cardiovascular events, such as myocardial infarction [heart attack] and stroke”.

The researchers said that while the study is observational and no firm conclusions can be drawn, targeting cardiovascular risk and obesity early may be beneficial.

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