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Health officials are in a key position to help spread the word about brain health and support a preventative approach, according to a new journal article.
The review article published in June in Frontiers of Aging Neuroscience, suggests that the application of a precision medicine approach to the treatment of cognitive disorders and prevention efforts in the elderly could improve outcomes. However, researchers and providers will need to have a more complete understanding of the many risk factors that contribute to cognitive health and brain aging.
The researchers examined the abundant literature regarding knowledge about brain aging and age-related cognitive changes. Based on their review, they developed the Precision Aging model that would enhance the current "one-size-fits-all" approach of the aging cognitive population, which "does not close the gap between lifespan and cognitive health. the researchers wrote. The Precision Aging model examines risk factors for age-related cognitive impairment, as well as potential targets for intervention and prevention efforts.
"Our article presents a new aging model called precision aging," says lead author of the study, Lee Ryan, PhD, professor and head of the department of psychology and badociate director, Evelyn F. McKnight Brain Institute, College of Science, University of Arizona at Tucson. "The Precision Aging model is designed to capture the incredibly complex aging process."
According to Ryan, many "trajectories" of aging depend on the combination of:
- genetic
- lifestyle factors
- medical factors, and
- environmental factors
"All of these factors combine to determine brain health and cognitive health in the elderly. Alzheimer's disease is a terrible disease for the individual and their families, but it's also important to remember that about 85% of seniors will never have dementia, "she says. "They may, however, suffer from certain cognitive impairments, which can sometimes be serious enough to affect the quality of their daily lives. To understand these very complex pathways of aging, we need to take a more nuanced approach to understanding aging. "
Currently, 16 million people in the United States live with cognitive impairment and more than 1.6 million people will develop Alzheimer's disease each year.
"Our ultimate goal is to match the duration of cognitive health to the lifespan," Ryan said. "The Precision Aging model is designed as a starting point to guide research on the complex ways of aging the brain. By understanding this complexity, we can help each person understand their specific risk profile and how best to maintain their brain health and cognitive health with age. "
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The main risk categories include cardiovascular insufficiency, immune disruption and chronic stress, among others.
Complex ways
To understand these very complex mechanisms of aging, Ryan and his colleagues need a very large number of participants and ways to reach people who may not be able to participate in a study in their labs.
"The Internet is a great tool for conducting a large-scale study on aging," she says. "We plan to use the Internet to reach a large number of seniors with various combinations of risk factors."
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